As Bonfire Night festivities commence, a revelation has struck some who now realise they might have been lighting their sparklers incorrectly for years.
The conventional method sees most people igniting the sparkler at the top, allowing the flame to cascade down towards their fingers. However, recent social media posts have sparked debate over this long-standing practice.
A TikTok video by @archie. five put the traditional technique to the test against an alternative method, where one sparkler is lit from the bottom and another from the top.
In the footage, a man and a woman each hold a sparkler, lighting them simultaneously to determine which method prevails. While the woman adheres to the traditional top-lighting approach, the man opts to light his sparkler from the bottom.
Despite both sparklers burning for approximately the same duration, the top-lit sparkler proved more challenging to ignite and perilously burned down towards the holder's fingers. Conversely, the bottom-lit sparkler ignited swiftly, with the heat ascending away from the holder's fingers.
"Yours was so much cooler - it was going away from your fingers, and it was faster," the woman observed, addressing the man in the clip.
Yet, viewers of the video have expressed differing opinions in the comments, with some advocating for a central lighting point to allow the fire to spread in both directions simultaneously, while others staunchly defend the top-lighting tradition.
Fire and rescue services across Britain are urging caution with sparklers, reinforcing a message from the West Midlands Fire Service: "Sparklers are often thought of as being safe, but they generate heat levels comparable to a welding torch."
They added these guidelines:
- It is recommended that sparklers are not given to under-5s.
- Make sure everyone who handles sparklers wears gloves.
- Sparklers should be held at arm’s length while being lit and only light one at a time.
- Don’t wave sparklers around close to other people
- Never hold a baby in your arms while you’re holding a sparkler.
- When the sparkler has burned out, place it, hot end down, in a bucket of cold water or sand and leave it there for several hours – they stay hot for a long time!
