4th Of July 2022 Fireworks: What's Legal, What's Not In Illinois

ILLINOIS — It's almost time to celebrate July 4th with cookouts, summer fun and fireworks — but in Illinois, buying most fireworks is illegal, and residents are only allowed to purchase novelty items like sparklers, "party poppers" and "snake" or "glow worm" pellets. And even that depends on what your particular municipality has to say about it.

The Illinois Pyrotechnic Use Act prohibits the sale, possession and use of consumer fireworks — and what's legal to purchase across state lines could land you in hot water once you cross back into Illinois.

Neighboring Indiana has some of the most lenient fireworks laws in the country. Anyone 18 or older can purchase and use fireworks whenever they want, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on non-holidays and later on holidays.

But while it may be tempting to make a stop in a nearby state to pick up some pyrotechnics to celebrate July 4, doing so could net you up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

In fact, Illinois is one of just three states that allow only sparklers and novelty items. Massachusetts has an even stricter law that bans all consumer fireworks. A move tried but failed to put fireworks before Massachusetts voters in a referendum on the upcoming midterm elections ballot.

Most other states allow the setting off of fireworks in the days before and after major holidays. In states that permit consumer fireworks, counties and cities may adopt stricter codes and ordinances. And in extreme drought or high-wind conditions, local fire officials may prohibit them.

States like Illinois with stricter fireworks laws have cited data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that shows thousands of people are injured in fireworks-related accidents every year, with multiple deaths reported as well.

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In 2019 — a normal, pre-pandemic year for fireworks displays — about 10,000 fireworks injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms. Fireworks-related deaths totaled 12 in that year, including one in Illinois, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

Illinois fireworks injuries, deaths

Illinois hospitals reported 202 fireworks-related injuries over the July 4 holiday in 2021, along with one death. During the same time period in 2020, 163 fireworks-related injuries were reported and no deaths.

A Boone County man in his mid-30s suffered fatal injuries while lighting fireworks on July 4, 2021. In Lake County, a man in his 20s lost an eye and suffered "severe traumatic injuries to his face" while shooting off fireworks after bending to check why they didn't immediately go off.

Of those injured by fireworks in 2021, most — 143 of them — were male, and 59 were female. More than half of the injuries were to adults over age 22. Children ages 11 to 16 accounted for 29 injury reports, compared to 23 the year before.

Mortars accounted for 50 of the reported injuries, followed by bottle rockets (27 injuries), Roman candles (26 injuries) and sparklers (21 injuries).

Most of those injured — 84 of them — suffered second-degree burns, 31 people suffered first-degree burns, 24 people suffered abrasions, 25 suffered lacerations, 11 suffered third-degree burns, 11 suffered loss of sight and 6 suffered hearing loss.

Fifty-six patients suffered injuries to their hands, while 44 suffered injuries to their eyes and 41 suffered injuries to their head or face.

Other fireworks deaths in Illinois

In 2019, a 53-year-old Chicago man was killed in a fireworks accident.

In 2017, a 42-year-old man was killed on the Southwest Side when fireworks he was checking exploded in his face. Police said the man was putting on a fireworks display for kids when he lit a tube designed to fire pyrotechnics up to 50 feet in the air. But the fireworks didn't go off as expected, and as the man bent over to inspect the tube, they ignited and struck him in the face.

What's illegal in Illinois

In Illinois, prohibited fireworks include, but are not limited to:

• Hand held fireworks
• Bottle rockets
• Firecrackers of any size or type
• Sky rockets
• Roman candles
• Chasers
• Buzz bombs
• Ground items other than those identified as Approved Consumer Fireworks
• Helicopters
• Missiles
• Pin wheels or any other twirling device whether on the ground or mounted above the ground
• Planes
• Sky Lanterns, the type of balloon which requires fire underneath to propel them

What can you use in Illinois?

The fireworks you can purchase and use in Illinois — unless you're a professional with a permit — are pretty limited.

Certain novelty fireworks are unregulated, meaning the sale and use of those items is permitted, but under the Pyrotechnic Use Act, municipalities have the authority to prohibit the sale and use of sparklers on public property. Check with your municipality to find out what the regulations are.

According to the state fire marshal, permitted novelties include:

• snake or glow worm pellets;
• smoke devices;
• trick noisemakers known as "party poppers," "booby traps," "snappers," "trick matches," "cigarette loads," and "auto burglar alarms;"
• sparklers;
• toy pistols, toy canes, toy guns, or other devices in which paper or plastic caps containing twenty-five hundredths grains or less of explosive compound are used, provided they are so constructed that the hand cannot come in contact with the cap when in place for the explosion; and
• toy pistol paper or plastic caps that contain less than twenty hundredths grains of explosive mixture.

A July 4 tradition

Fireworks have always been part of Independence Day celebrations. After the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that Independence Day “ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

The first Independence Day fireworks display occurred on July 4, 1777. They came in only one color — orange — back then, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Today, they light up the sky with red, white and blue, the color of the U.S. flag, but also across the spectrum of color.

At the turn of the century, about a third of fireworks displays were professional shows, according to Scientific American.

Since then, many states have gradually deregulated fireworks, partly to tap lost tax revenue from residents crossing state lines to buy fireworks in states with more-lenient laws, but also because of lax enforcement.