In a pyrotechnic facility, a technician was producing fireworks (jets with coloured grains). After compression of the pyrotechnic composition, one of the “sticks” used as a punch was still stuck in the matrix. The technician used a bronze sledgehammer to loosen it, and in so doing triggered the composition. The fire was confined to the products on the particular workstation. Excessive machinery wear was found to be the cause. The operator produced a new set of machines and instituted a periodic equipment control procedure.