Reading about the fireworks blast and of the tragedy of 11 people injured in New Hampshire, including five children, in the Sun Journal July 5, reminded me of why fireworks had been banned for so many years, and why towns were so willing to pay thousands of dollars for fireworks to be displayed and enjoyed by all when left to the experts.

I can still remember several tragedies years ago that wiped out all the joy of the holiday celebration when a little friend, a boy of 8, lost all fingers and part of his right hand when a firecracker exploded in his hand. Another boy, thinking that he hadn’t lit a firecracker properly, went back to relight it and it exploded in his face. He was left with blisters and the doctors feared for his sight until bandages were removed and found the boy was miraculously saved from life-long blindness. And, in another case, a firecracker, thrown from a second-story porch landed in a baby carriage being wheeled by, leaving scars on the suffering child’s face and arms for life.

People are playing with gun powder. Please leave it to experts and enjoy the beauty, not the grief and the tragedies, of the holiday.

Katherine Lawler, Mexico