When you’re shopping for fireworks this New Year’s, be sure to actually wait to light them up. The reason for this is that fireworks, obviously, are prone to starting on fire — and if you have fire near things that can very easily go up in flames, it can lead to some bad situations.


I know, this may seem like common sense, but it’s a lesson we’ve had to learn over and over again. Take, for example, this fireworks stand in Ecuador, which exploded after one of the firecrackers went off next to all of the other fireworks.



The video starts slow, with smaller fireworks igniting and producing billows of smoke. As the video continues, the explosions become bigger, and soon, some of the projectile fireworks begin sending themselves off in all directions.


According to Metro Ecuador, this incident occurred in a place called Chone in the Manabí region of the country, and it’s unknown if the explosion caused any injuries.


The Metro article goes on to say that there’s been a recent campaign in the country encouraging people to use fireworks more responsibly (I can’t imagine why). But no matter where you are, let this video be a warning: Be careful and for the love of god, store fireworks away from other fireworks.