Four people in the Northern Territory including a baby have been injured by fireworks during the Annual Territory Day celebrations. Police have praised revellers for a largely peaceful night. But paramedics treated some burns more severe than usual once again sparking calls to curb the fire-cracker component of the independence celebrations.
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00:00It's the Northern Territory's wildest night of the year, celebrating self-governance with
00:11back-to-back crackers.
00:12Man, you've got to come to Darwin.
00:13It's the best place.
00:14I've burnt my thumbs off lighting fireworks.
00:15I've set a hundred off, man.
00:16You've got to do it.
00:17It's bloody awesome, mate.
00:18Us Territorians coming together.
00:19It's just the freedom.
00:20Everyone's just really relaxed and having a really good time.
00:21A big party for pyromaniacs, and a busy night for emergency services.
00:33A high probability ignition source with lots of fireworks being let off all over the territory,
00:40so the probability of a fire starting increases.
00:44Protecting properties, a team effort, relying on volunteer fire brigades.
00:49It is a big day, and we do a lot of planning, and we do a lot of mitigation planning to
00:53try and make it safe for everyone as we can.
00:57The NT's annual fireworks pre-for-all takes place during the Territory's bushfire season,
01:02with Bushfires NT set to extend the area within the fire danger period.
01:07Despite the risks of grass fires here in Darwin's rural area, the right to blow things up for
01:13one night of the year remains a tightly held tradition.
01:16The controversial event inevitably comes with casualties.
01:20NT Health says 30 people were hospitalised overnight for fireworks-related injuries.
01:26More than half of them bystanders, including nine children.
01:29St John Ambulance NT reported treating a six-month-old baby with facial burns, a young woman with
01:36serious burns to her face, neck and legs, and a man who suffered burns to his groin.
01:43Authorities are aware of reports of the misuse of fireworks, and it is disappointing that
01:46a small cohort choose to put others at risk.
01:49A community garden damaged by flames.
01:52Everything that is needed to create a garden was in that shed, and it's gone.
01:56It's just a molten plastic mess.
01:59The morning after, a sobering sight.
02:02But unfortunately there is still a lot of fireworks left on the cliffs here for us to
02:07clean up this morning.
02:08Celebrating freedom with fireworks in true Territory style.