Fire Chief Warns July 4 Revelers To Use Caution With Fireworks

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD -- People have already been setting off fireworks in anticipation of the Fourth of July and Anne Arundel County Fire Department Chief Trisha L. Wolford warns everyone to use caution.

"As our experiences in Anne Arundel County show us, legal fireworks don’t mean safe fireworks,” Wolford said in a statement. “We want everyone to have a fun Fourth of July holiday, but to do it safely. The safest way to do that is by viewing a professional fireworks display from a designated safe area.”

Wolford advised parents in particular to keep a close eye on their children during this holiday, too.

"Parents need to be especially vigilant during this period in assuring that children do not possess dangerous fireworks or mishandle legal ones," she said.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fireworks start more than 18,500 fires per year, including 1,300 structure fires, 300 vehicle fires and 16,900 outside and other fires. These fires caused an average of three deaths, 40 civilian injuries and an average of $43 million in direct property damage.

On average, 250 people go to the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries around the July 4th holiday. Injuries from the intense heat of fireworks typically harm the eyes, head, hands, arms or legs. Some burns leave disfiguring scars that last a lifetime.

Fireworks, both legal and illegal, have caused injuries and fires in Anne Arundel County, too.

July 5, 2018- An 11-year-old female was injured by legal sparklers that had been purchased from a fireworks stand in Glen Burnie. Another child lit a device close to the patient and the contact resulted in second degree burns to her right wrist and abdomen.

July 3, 2018- A 21-year-old male was injured when a mortar tube exploded in his hand. He was attending a large outdoor party in Millersville where attendees brought illegal fireworks that were purchased in Pennsylvania. The victim held a mortar tube in his hand and dropped a lit mortar into the tube upside down. The explosion within the tube caused catastrophic injuries to of his both hands. He was treated at the Curtis Hand Center at Union Memorial Hospital.

June 27, 2018- A 19-year-old male was injured while using legal fireworks in Lake Shore. The patient and a friend were using ground-based sparklers, purchased in Anne Arundel County, on a community pier. One of the devices malfunctioned and exploded in the face of the patient, injuring both of his eyes. He was treated at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was later released with no apparent permanent eye damage but with concussive damage to his ears.

July 4, 2017- Fire officials investigated two separate cases in which individuals received injuries from fireworks and were driven by friends to Baltimore Washington Medical Center. One person suffered a hand injury when they picked up a firework that landed them near them, and it exploded and a second person received burns to their chest when they lit a roman candle.

June, 2016- A 19-year-old man using a legal sparkler device purchased in Anne Arundel County was injured when the device malfunctioned and exploded in his face. The patient received eye injuries and concussive ear injuries.

January, 2016- Five people were injured in Arnold when an illegal firework (mortar) was placed into the wrong size PVC pipe being used as a launch tube. The mortar became lodged in the launch tube and exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions.

July 2014- The improper and dangerous use of legal sparklers inside a dwelling caused a fire in a Hanover, which caused $50,000 damage. During the investigation of the fire, fire investigators discovered illegal fireworks within the home which were confiscated and a citation issued to the occupants for possession of illegal fireworks.

June 2013- Improperly disposed of fireworks caused a dwelling fire near Annapolis, which caused $250,000 in damage.

July 2008- A home in Odenton sustained damage in a fire caused by a 12-year-old occupant using fireworks in his bedroom.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's Fireworks Report included the following findings:

• Fireworks were involved in an estimated 12,900 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments during calendar year 2017.
• Of the fireworks-related injuries sustained, 70 percent were to males, and 30 percent were to females.
• Children younger than 15 years of age accounted for 36 percent of the estimated 2017 injuries. Fifty percent of the estimated emergency department-treated, fireworks-related injuries were to individuals younger than 20 years of age.
• Children 10 to 14 years of age had the highest estimated rate of emergency department-treated, fireworks-related injuries (5.9 injuries per 100,000 people). Young adults 20 to 24 years of age had the second highest estimated rate (5.8 injuries per 100,000 people).
• There were an estimated 1,200 emergency department-treated injuries associated with sparklers and 300 with bottle rockets.
• The parts of the body most often injured were hands and fingers (an estimated 31 percent); head, face, and ears (an estimated 22 percent); legs (an estimated 17 percent); eyes (an estimated 14 percent); and arms (an estimated 6 percent).

If you have any information regarding fires or explosive incidents, call (410) 222-TIPS or use this form to submit an official report of any fire or explosive incident information.