Fireworks Injuries, Fires Up This Year In Plainfield: FD Chief

PLAINFIELD, IL — Despite fireworks being illegal in Illinois, people throughout the state still find ways to light them up, especially during the Fourth of July weekend. In Plainfield, Fire Chief Jon Stratton said fireworks-related fires and injuries increased this weekend compared to previous years.

In total, firefighters from the Plainfield Fire Protection District responded to four brush fires, one house fire and one traumatic injury on July 4. A fifth brush fire, which took place in the field at Plainfield East High School, happened on July 2. All incidents resulted from fireworks, Stratton said.

The July 4 brush fires happened across Plainfield:

• At the corner of Shagbark Drive and South Van Dyke Road
• In the 11700 block of South Millenium Parkway, where Stratton said juveniles were in the park lighting fireworks
• On Oswego-Plains Drive
• In the 23400 block of Caton Farm Road, where a tree lit on fire due to fireworks

Stratton did not give more details about the traumatic injury, but said someone will likely lose "a finger, maybe two" after lighting fireworks.

The injury isn't the first in the Chicago-area relating to fireworks. A year ago, on July 4, a Boone County man in his mid-30s suffered fatal injuries while lighting fireworks. 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.

For one Plainfield family that was out of town this Independence Day weekend, someone else's fireworks-gone-wrong incident led to their displacement, Stratton said. Around 9:28 a.m. July 4, firefighters responded to a structure fire in the 13400 block of Vicarage Drive after a neighbor reported the fire.

Crews found the house's exterior in flames, which ran up the vinyl siding and lit the attic on fire. There was so much heat, Stratton said, that it began melting the siding on the house next door.

"It could have been two people that lost their homes," he said.

Firefighters got the blaze under control "pretty quick," in about 15 minutes. The department is ascribing the cause of the fire to fireworks that landed on the house's lawn, according to Stratton.

"With the dry conditions, people got to realize ... you've got to be careful when you like these things up," he said. "They're illegal, so you're breaking the law either way."

To prevent such incidents, Stratton shared a simple quote from Gordon Graham, retired commander of the California Highway Patrol and co-founder of Lexipol public safety training: "If it's predictable, it's preventable."

At the time of publication, Plainfield police did not respond to Patch's request for comment regarding the number of citations, if any, that were issued related to fireworks.

RELATED: July 4 Fireworks Deaths, Injuries Reported Across US Amid Rising Trend

Editor's note: This article previously published the wrong address for a July 4 brush fire. The correct address where the incident occurred is in the 23400 block of Caton Farm Road.