Control at the border

When New Year’s Eve fun becomes life-threatening

The "hot goods" were confiscated

(Bild: LPD OOE Michael Dietrich)

Rocket boxes with names like "Mafiozo" or "Mustang" or "Brutus" - entire arsenals of prohibited fireworks of classes F3 and F4 were fished out of the trunks of freezing police officers on Sunday during a focus check lasting several hours at the storm-tossed and half-snow-covered Weigetschlag border crossing. But the fun is dangerous. And, if you are caught smuggling, it is also expensive.

A total of 486 compatriots were checked on their way home from shopping in the Czech Republic. The investigators found 125 pyrotechnic items with a total weight of 215 kilos. The weight of the net explosive mass contained also speaks volumes: an alarming 43 kilos. 27 smugglers were charged. Such smuggling trips to the ball and firecracker paradise of the Czech Republic are quite risky, because if the police make a hit during one of their spot checks, you have to pay a hefty fine, depending on the quantity. The penalty: up to 3600 euros.

Fireworks are categorized according to their type of use or purpose and the degree of danger they pose, including their noise level:

1. Fireworks that pose a very low hazard, have a negligible noise level and can be used in enclosed areas, including fireworks intended for use inside residential buildings;
2. Category F2: fireworks that present a low hazard, have a low noise level and are intended for use in confined outdoor areas;
3. Category F3: fireworks that pose a medium hazard, are intended for use in wide, open outdoor areas and whose noise level does not endanger human health;
4. Category F4: fireworks that present a major hazard, are intended for use only by persons with appropriate expertise and whose noise level does not endanger human health.

But why are you not allowed to simply import the rockets and firecrackers from the Vietnamese vendor? In Austria, the use of fireworks in categories F3 and F4 is reserved for persons who have obtained an official permit to do so," explains district inspector Markus Kreilmeier, explosives expert for the provincial police.

A look inside the police VW van

(Bild: LPD OOE Michael Dietrich)

"A detonation is not just a few fingers away"
Kreilmeier also had a particularly dangerous firecracker called "Super Size" with him for demonstration purposes, which was confiscated the previous year: "This cylinder contains 200 grams of net explosive. When it detonates, there is not a blade of grass left within a radius of one and a half meters. It's not just a few fingers or a hand that are gone, everything is gone." Only in Vienna was a firecracker taken out of circulation that was even worse with a 350 gram explosive charge. "As a professional, you set off such fireworks with your own ignition system. If you don't know how to do it, you just use a lighter. Then you add alcohol as a booster on New Year's Eve and the shreds fly," says Kreilmeier.