Fire works death and injuries

An increase in U.S. fireworks-related injuries in 1997 puts safety advocates and officials on notice. Fireworks-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms rose by 14 percent in 1997 to roughly the average level of two decades ago.1 We at NFPA hope this increase isn't the first step back to the very high injury rates we saw from 1985 to 1995. Since at least 1910, NFPA's mission has included stopping the dangerous use of fireworks by individuals, which accounts for nearly all fireworks injuries.2 Many states still permit untrained citizens to buy and use fireworks-objects designed to explode, throw off showers of hot sparks, and reach surface temperatures as high as 1,200 deg F (6000 deg C). Nearly all the serious injuries and extensive property loss that occur every year arise from this misguided activity. The only acceptably safe way to enjoy fireworks is at a public fireworks display conducted in accordance with NFPA 1123, Fireworks Display. Anything else is a violation of the International Fire Marshals Association (IFMA's) Model Fireworks Law.

Fires and losses caused by fireworks

On a typical Fourth of July holiday, fireworks cause more fires in the United States than all other causes of fire on that day combined. But because most Americans encounter the risk of fireworks only once a year, many don't realize how great that risk is, particularly for children, who suffer most from the widespread private use of fireworks, both as spectators and, too often, as active participants.

In 1996, an estimated 24,800 fires involving fireworks were reported to U.S. fire departments (see Table 1). These fires were estimated to have killed 27 civilians, injured another 67, and caused $26.8 million in direct property damage.

In recent years, fireworks-related fires have typically caused at least $20 million in property loss annually, a substantial share of which is done by bottle rockets or other fireworks rockets. In 1997, these devices proved deadly, as well. Four occupants of an Arkansas home were setting off fireworks on Independence Day night when a rocket landed on a couch on the porch, igniting the cushion. The occupants, who'd been drinking, knew the rocket had landed on the couch but didn't think it had been affected. After midnight, the fire spread from the couch throughout the small structure, destroying it and killing one of the occupants, whose reactions may have been impaired by alcohol.

The same day, a bottle rocket that landed in or near a roof gutter ignited a duplex in New York. Fire spread to the underside of the roof and through the wood shake shingles that were layered under the asphalt shingles. A 31-year-old firefighter died of smoke inhalation while fighting the blaze.

Of course, deaths due to fireworks-related fires and deaths directly caused by fireworks aren't the same thing. Fireworks can start fires that subsequently cause deaths, and fireworks can kill directly, without producing a fire that requires a fire department response. Table 2 shows statistics on both types of fireworks-related deaths for 1980 through 1994, which is the latest year for which both types of statistics are available.

Most fireworks-related injuries don't involve fires that are reported to fire departments. In 1996, for example, an estimated 67 civilians were injured in reported fires caused by fireworks, but fireworksrelated injuries reported to hospital emergency rooms alone totaled 7,300. Other fireworks-related injuries, such as those treated in doctors' offices or at home, aren't documented in any national database, but they'd surely push the total even higher.

In 1997, an estimated 8,300 people suffered fireworks-related injuries severe enough to require treatment in hospital emergency rooms, according to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC also updated its sample of emergency rooms and estimated that the new sample would have produced an estimate of injuries 3.33 percent lower in 1996 than the 1996 numbers showed. Figure 1 shows the trend in fireworks-related injuries reported to emergency rooms since 1974,with statistics for 1991 to 1996 shown both as they were reported and as they've been adjusted to fit with the new sample. CPSC also adjusted the figures for 1988 to 1990, but these years were already adjusted for an earlier sampling change, so those adjustments, which are small anyway, aren't shown in Figure 1.

Most fireworks injuries involve children, particularly school-aged children (see Table 3). The relative risks by age group don't clearly show what past studies have shown, which is that children ages 10 to 14 are at the highest risk, with older children ages 15 to 19 close behind. In Figure 2, these two age groups are indistinguishable from children ages 5 to 9 and adults ages 20 to 24, respectively.

Male victims accounted for roughly three-fourths of fireworks injuries. Among adults ages 45 to 64, however, women accounted for a narrow majority of fireworks injuries.

The CPSC conducted a detailed analysis of fireworks-related injuries in 1997 in the one-month period around July 4th. In a typical year, two-thirds to three-fourths of all fireworks injuries occur during that time. In 1997, 69 percent took place then. The remaining injuries that occur at other times of the year reflect, in part, certain local traditions, such as the use of fireworks during Christmas and New Year's nationally, the Chinese New Year in some areas, and Mardi Gras in parts of the South.

What kinds of fireworks cause the injuries?

A total of 8 percent of injuries-and 10 percent of injuries involving fireworks of a known type-involved fireworks that are illegal under federal law, including homemade or altered devices, which accounted for 1 percent, and illegally large firecrackers, which accounted for 7 percent (see Table 4). Fifty-one percent of injuries-and 61 percent of injuries involving fireworks of a known type-involved fireworks that are permitted under federal law, but not allowed under IFMA's longstanding Model Fireworks Law. Firecrackers of undetermined size accounted for 20 percent of injuries, or 24 percent of injuries involving fireworks of a known type.

Even public displays of fireworks can lead to unexplained injuries. Such displays accounted for 3 percent of the injuries in 1997, or 4 percent of injuries involving fireworks of known type. A grim example of the consequences of public fireworks displays that aren't conducted according to safety procedures occurred the night before Independence Day 1997 in Illinois, when a fireworks rocket misfired and landed in the midst of stored fireworks, igniting them all. One man was killed in the explosion and ensuing fire, and two others caught in the blast were thrown into a river and drowned. Local fire officials investigated the incident with support from four state and federal agencies. News accounts reported that a large fine for safety violations was levied on the firm.

These figures clearly show that substantial progress in reducing the high annual toll of fireworks injuries will require reducing those injuries caused by fireworks that aren't covered by current federal law. Simply enforcing the existing law won't affect the fireworks that cause most of the problem. It's even possible that limited laws, such as the federal law, are actually more difficult to enforce than a broader law would be because the existence of some legal fireworks for private use encourages a climate of acceptance and creates a distribution network, both of which make it easier for amateurs to obtain illegal fireworks.

What does it all mean?

The fact that public fireworks displays consistently account for a very small share of the fireworks problem shows that fireworks can be used safely by trained professionals who follow NFPA 1123, which puts the control of fireworks in their hands. The multifatality incident at a public display in Illinois shows how important it is for operators of public displays to follow the rules of safety.

When things go wrong with fireworks, they go very wrong very fast, far faster than any fire protection provisions can reliably respond. And fireworks are a classic attractive nuisance for children. If children are present to watch, they'll be tempted to touch. Children can move too fast and be badly hurt too quickly if they're close to fireworks, as they inevitably are at home fireworks displays. Why would anyone, especially a parent, who knows the facts about fireworks want to take that chance when everyone can enjoy a festive-and safe-Fourth of July at readily available public displays?

We in the fire protection community must spread the word in order to reduce the awful tolls of injury, death, and damage caused by the use of fireworks by amateurs. We must find a way to convince the public that the safe use of fireworks means no use at all by untrained people.

References

1. All fireworks-related injury statistics from hospital emergency rooms come from reports by the CPSC and private communications from Linda E. Smith of the CPSC. Smith also provided the rules for setting the range of fireworks injury estimates during the period between 1985

and 1989, reflecting a change in the sample, and between 1991 and 1996, reflecting the latest change in the sample. Reports referenced include Ron Monticone and Linda Smith, 1997 Fireworks-Related Injuries; Sheila L. Kelly, Fireworks Injuries, 1994; Dr. Terry L. Kissinger, Fireworks Injuries-Results of a 1992 NEISS Study; Linda Smith and Sheila Kelly, Fireworks Injuries, 1990, Deborah Kale and Beatrice Harwood, Fireworks Injuries-1981; and the May/June 1974 issue of NEISS News. All were published by the CPSC.

2. Federal law permits public use of what are now referred to as "consumer fireworks" (formerly known as "common" or Class C fireworks), which are defined as "any small fireworks device designed primarily to produce visible effects by combustion" that comply with specific construction, chemical composition, and labeling regulations. These include a 50-milligram maximum limit of explosive composition for ground devices and a 130-milligram maximum limit of explosive composition for aerial devices. "Safe and sane" fireworks include devices such as sparklers, fountains, snakes, party poppers, and ground spinners. Laws based on this approach allow considerable private use of fireworks but exclude any explosive-type devices that lift off the ground that are allowed under federal law.

John R. Hall, Jr., Ph.D., is assistant vice president of NFPA's Fire Research and Analysis Division.

Copyright National Fire Protection Association May/Jun 1999
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