Fourth Of July Firework Injuries: Most In 15 Years, New Report Says

By Marc Torrence (Patch National Staff)

Last year was the worst year for fireworks injuries in at least 15 years, according to a report released Thursday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, just in time for 2016's Fourth of July festivities.

Eleven people died in 2015 using fireworks, the report said, and an estimated 11,900 people were taken to the hospital with fireworks-related injuries. About 67 percent of those injuries occurred in the 30 days before and after July Fourth celebrations, a sobering reminder as this year's holiday approaches.

And the CPSC turned to the subject of one of the more grisly injuries from last year to help deliver its message: New York Giants star Jason Pierre-Paul.
Pierre-Paul severely maimed his right hand re-lighting a firework. He appeared in a PSA that was released Thursday warning of firework dangers.

Other CPSC findings included:

• Of the 11 deaths, nine involved people misusing re-loadable fireworks, often trying to hold them when they fired, either on their head or in their hands.
• The other two deaths involved homemade fireworks, which are often packed with more explosive power than is allowed under law.
• Teenagers ages 15 to 19 had the highest rate of injuries, followed by children ages 5 to 9.
• Hands and fingers were the most-injured body parts (32 percent); followed by head, face and ears (an estimated 25 percent); eyes (an estimated 16 percent); legs (an estimated 15 percent); and arms (an estimated 4 percent).

"With more states relaxing their laws and allowing more types of fireworks to be purchased and used by consumers, we need to do more to prevent kids and adults from being rushed to the hospital like JPP experienced," CPSC Chairman Elliot F. Kaye said at an event Thursday at Washington, D.C.'s National Mall.

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The American Pyrotechnics Association, a fireworks-industry trade group, said that while the number of injuries are increasing, 2015 was also a year of record fireworks consumption, and 2016 is expected to be even greater. And all of the deaths and many of the serious injuries were a result of either gross misuse of the products or use of illegal fireworks and could be preventable.

"There’s been this proliferation of YouTube videos demonstrating how to do dangerous things with fireworks," APA Executive Director Julie L. Heckman told Patch. "We’d really like to put a stop to that information being available on the internet and via YouTube. It encourages people to do really dangerous stunts."

And Heckman says the CPSC's data doesn't tell the whole story.

"I think what they’re not looking at, the picture you’re not seeing is that there has been record growth in the consumption of fireworks," Heckman said. "If you look at the volume of consumer fireworks being used and the number of injuries, there’s actually a sharp decline in the firework-related injury rate."

APA tracks firework-related injuries per 100,000 pounds of fireworks sold to determine its injury rate. And according to the association's own data, that rate has largely hovered around the same number (about 4.1 injuries per 100,000 pounds), with a spike in 2008.

So as fireworks sold have increased, so too have the injuries. With 2016 expected to be another record year for firework sales, it will likely be grim in the injury department, too.

"Our ultimate goal is to prevent any firework-related injury," she said. "And it’s very important that the general public takes the time to read and follow the instructions for use."

Image via Mike Mozart, Flickr, used under Creative Commons