4th Of July Fireworks Safety: How To Avoid Blowing Off Your Finger

ACROSS AMERICA — Last year on the 4th of July, Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, was celebrating Independence Day in suburban Detroit when he was struck in the chest by an errant fireworks mortar blast as he soaked in a hot tub.

The nine-shot firework that ended Kivlenieks’ life was completely legal in Michigan, and no laws were broken in its detonation, according to police, who said the firework tilted slightly, then started to fire toward the celebrants.

The same day in Georgia, a man was holding a lunch tube for a powerful-but-legal firework when a shell fell and mortally wounded him. He died the next day, leaving behind his fiancée and two young daughters.

Elsewhere, an Illinois man in his 20s lost an eye when a mortar-type firework exploded in his face, taking off most of that, too. Halfway across the country on Long Island, New York, a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured when the same type of firework struck him in the face.

Stories like these are common among the thousands of patients who pour into hospital emergency rooms for treatment of fireworks-related injuries in the two weeks before and after Independence Day, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The commission, an independent government agency charged with protecting consumers from hazardous products, said in a report last year that as public fireworks displays were canceled during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, consumer fireworks injuries and deaths increased 50 percent from 2019.

It’s not surprising.

Research shows that increases in fireworks-related injuries typically follow a loosening of laws. A research team at West Virginia School of Public Health found fireworks injuries shot up 40 percent the year after the state liberalized its law to allow people to buy and shoot off Roman candles, bottle rockets and fountains. Consumer fireworks are legal in all U.S. states but Massachusetts.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission analysis, nearly a third — 30 percent — of fireworks injuries requiring emergency room treatment in 2020 were to hands and fingers. Another 22 percent of ER visits were for head, face and neck injuries, and 15 percent were for eye injuries.

Also from June 20-July 21, 2020:

• At least 18 people died from fireworks-related incidents in 2020, compared with 12 reported for the previous year.
• About 15,600 people were treated in hospital emergency departments for fireworks injuries in 2020. There were about 10,000 ER-treated fireworks injuries in 2019.
• Of the 18 people who died, eight — or 44 percent — had used alcohol or drugs prior to the accident.
• People were more severely injured, with 21 percent of them transferred to another hospital due to severe fireworks injuries, up from 12 percent in 2019.
• Young adults ages 20-24 saw the greatest spike in visits to hospital emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries, with 17 injuries per 100,000 people in 2020 compared with 2.8 per 100,000 people in 2019.
• Some 44 percent of fireworks injuries were burns.

The National Safety Council, a nonprofit safety advocacy group, is squarely against a trend toward fireworks deregulation that has allowed consumer fireworks sales to soar, and advises against home fireworks displays. At-home fireworks sales reached $2.2 billion in 2021, up from $407 million in 2000, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

Despite the dangers, fireworks are a legal part of many Americans’ 4th of July celebrations. Below are some tips to keep at-home fireworks shows as safe as possible:

• Before you start, fill a bucket of water or keep a garden hose nearby so you can quickly put out any unintended fires.
• Never hold lighted fireworks in your hands.
• Don’t light them indoors.
• Never allow young children to light fireworks, and make adults supervise older children.
• Don’t let people who are drunk or under the influence of drugs to set off fireworks.
• Make sure you’re a safe distance from people, structures and flammable materials when you light them.
• Never point or throw fireworks at another person.
• Don’t light more than one firework at a time, and maintain a safe distance after lighting.
• Don’t ignite fireworks in a container.
• If a firework malfunctions, don’t attempt to re-light it or handle it.
• Soak both spent and used fireworks in water for a few hours before discarding.

Also, rethink sparklers, which burn at about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit — which is hot enough to burn metal. Safer alternatives include glow sticks, confetti poppers and colored streamers. About 900 fireworks-related emergency room visits in 2020 were for burns received while playing with sparklers, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission report.