Nassau County went full Michael Bay ahead of July 4.
County officials blew up a car, a mailbox and even a rotisserie chicken in an action movie-style simulation to warn residents of the dangers of illegal fireworks.
“Do not use illegal fireworks,” Blakeman told reporters Wednesday at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.
“Every year we hear about people losing their eye, or losing a finger — it’s not worth it — we will arrest you.”
Officials rigged several items with commercial-grade fireworks that can be purchased legally in nearby states like Pennsylvania in a display for members of the media ahead of Independence Day.
Bringing fireworks into New York from other states is not only illegal but dangerous, officials said — because they can be set off by friction.
They them did a demo of what could go wrong, igniting fireworks in the trunk of an old car — which then exploded and went up in flames.
Officials said blowing up the chicken was similar to having a firework go off in a human hand, and said the damage would be more or less the same.
They also ignited a mailbox, a popular prank among teens, to show the level of damage that they can cause by dropping a “mortar” inside.
Lt. Ken Strigaro, a member of the Nassau County Bomb Squad who helped rig the explosives, compared fireworks to bombs that should only be used by professionals in controlled settings. He then set off a pile of garbage to display what could happen when used fireworks are thrown away improperly.
Deputy Fire Commissioner Kevin Smith revealed that 20 Nassau homes in the last five years have burned down due to fireworks — five in the last year alone — mainly from residents throwing out the blown-up remnants that they do not realize are still hot or active enough to cause a fire.
Smith also warned against sparklers, and urged parents not allow their children to use them as temperatures can reach up to 3,000 degrees in a child’s palm and said even a slight touch could result in the need of medical attention.
“Do not put a sparkler in your child’s hand,” Smith said.
“You wouldn’t put a welding rod in your child’s hands — why would you put these?”
