In uk.rec.gardening Janet wrote:
Long ago we used to organise community bonfire and fireworks parties and
found it was better and safer for one person to be responsible for the
selection, type and purchase of ALL the fireworks.
That way, from the start all the fire works are together in one place
under your control; you can sort them in advance (in daylight), arrange
how you are going to light/display each kind and not get surprised by
laddish Dads with SAS flash-bang fantasies.

A friend has been running her own quite impressive firework party every
year, where everyone brings one 'big' firework and they are all collected
together in one room (away from the kids), then the 'one responsible person'
(her husband) sorts them out, organises, preps and then does the lighting.
No-one else goes near them (and the garden is long enough that a safe distance
is quite easy). As far as I know (touch wood, etc) there has never been
an accident or incident of any kind