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Every year, thousands of people, mostly children, are injured around the Fourth of July by fireworks-related accidents, yet people continue to purchase and use them year after year without thinking about the consequences.
State and local officials are stressing that citizens use caution and think about their safety during this Fourth of July weekend.
By law, all fireworks are illegal in Illinois, unless a permit is authorized by local jurisdictions for supervised public displays. Because sparklers, smoke devices, snake and glow worm pellets, trick noisemakers and most forms of toy pistols are not included in the term fireworks, many people believe they are harmless. But these types can actually be very dangerous.
Sparklers, for example, burn at temperatures up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit and can cause very serious burns, even after being extinguished.
"People get a false sense of security thinking that sparklers are safe," said Officer Dan Reed of the Carbondale police.
Reed said he believes adults should look at their child's age and maturity level before letting them use items such as sparklers and other "less harmful" fireworks.
"Parents should use good supervision and be right there with the children," Reed said. "Or they should just do it themselves if the children aren't responsible enough."
Because most of these injuries are preventable, the Office of the State Fire Marshall is encouraging people to act safely this year and skip amateur displays for safer fireworks shows put on for the public by pyrotechnic professionals.
Approximately 7,000 fireworks-related injuries occur each year in the U.S., according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the OSFM. Nearly 2,000 of them are eye injuries resulting in removal of the eye or permanent eye damage.
Other prominent injuries include permanent hearing loss, second- and third-degree burns and amputation. These injuries are serious and painful, and could create lifelong scars.
At least 195 people were injured in Illinois in 2002, according to a hospital survey conducted by the OSFM for a four-week period which included the Fourth of July.
The most common injuries affected the eyes, fingers and hands. According to the survey, bottle rockets caused 17 percent, firecrackers and M-80/M-60/M-100s caused 16 percent and sparklers caused 15 percent, for a total of 48 percent of all injuries. Fireworks lit or thrown by other people were put into the unknown category, which totaled 19 percent of the injuries.
Although the numbers in Illinois and the country were high last year, Tom Manis, fire inspector for the Carbondale Fire Department, said that injuries due to fireworks in Carbondale do not happen that often, or they are not reported.
"The only injuries called in are usually minor," Manis said. "They are caused mostly by fireworks that aren't legal."
In an effort to control the supply of illegal fireworks in the area, Manis inspects all local fireworks tents and stands.
"It's my job to make sure they are not selling anything they are not supposed to," Manis said.
Two stands in Carbondale, run by the same company, are no longer open after inspections made by Manis on June 25 and June 27. Manis said he first made a routine inspection of the stands located in the Wal-Mart parking lot east of town and the Kroger parking lot on the west side of town. Upon inspection, Manis found that the stands were selling fireworks that were illegal.
"They had fireworks that spun on the ground and threw sparks, Manis said. "Those aren't legal here and that's what the majority of what they were selling."
Manis said he informed the company to remove the illegal fireworks if they planned to stay open. Two days later, another inspection took place after receiving information that the stands continued selling the products. The information was correct, and Manis shut down the stands.
A spokesman for Wal-Mart and a spokeswoman for Kroger both said their stores had no affiliation with the fireworks distributors.
Not only can fireworks be harmful physically, but they can also be harmful financially. Debbie Nelson, the assistant city attorney of Carbondale, said the fine for being caught with illegal fireworks ranges from no less than $50 and no more than $750, depending on what the court decides it should be.
"The officers give violators an appearance bond to make sure they appear in front of the judge when they are supposed to," Nelson said. "It is up to the judge to issue the fine."
Reed said that most calls about illegal fireworks are called in by concerned neighbors or residents, but they are not always followed up on.
"The police prioritize calls when they are made," Reed said. "Fireworks rank fairly low on the list."
Reed said other calls concerning violence and other major issues are responded to first and if the police are not tied up, then they will respond to the fireworks call.
Besides injuries and fines, there is another major problem caused every year by fireworks - property damage. The National Fire Incident Reporting System in Illinois reported 577 fires that were started in 2001 by fireworks. The fires resulted in more than $4 million worth of property damage.
