Before you light the fuse, learn fireworks safety tips

Some Corridor communities allow fireworks, but several ban them

A fireworks vendor prepares to open in 2017 in Marion. The city allows fireworks to be set off for limited hours on July 4. (The Gazette)) — A fireworks vendor prepares to open in 2017 in Marion. The city allows fireworks to be set off for limited hours on July 4. (The Gazette)

In 2023, eight people were killed and another 9,700 were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks incidents throughout the nation, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most of those injuries — 66 percent — happened in the weeks before and after July 4.

The Gazette talked with Division Chief Shawn Fluharty from the Marion Fire Department about what safety precautions community members should take when using fireworks, in order to celebrate safely.

While it’s legal to set off consumer fireworks for limited hours on July 4 in Marion, several other cities — including Cedar Rapids and Iowa City — ban them and issue fines.

Division Chief Shawn Fluharty from the Marion Fire Department (Contributed)

Q: What are some of your biggest safety tips for setting off consumer fireworks?

A: This one seems painfully obvious, but never try to light fireworks inside of a building. It's been done. Light fireworks one at a time and then move quickly away from the device, because sometimes the fuses go much faster than people think. Never place any part of your body over a firework device when lighting it, because again, the fuse sometimes goes much faster than what people think it does. If a firework appears to be damaged, don't try to light it again.

Never try to reload or handle a malfunctioned firework, and if it didn't go off, soak it in water before you throw it away just in case there's something still going on. Never point or throw fireworks, including sparklers, at anyone. Never use fireworks while impaired by drugs or alcohol. That's kind of a big one, because unfortunately most of our injuries seem to involve that.

Keep a bucket of water or a hose available in case a fire happens or something else. When you have a used firework, before throwing in the garbage, soak it in water for a few minutes. We have certainly had fires start where someone throws away a rocket or some kind of firework that they thought was cooled, and they put it into a garbage can and — just like dumping ash in the garbage can — that stuff can smolder for literally hours before another startup fire.

Q: Are there any types of fireworks that you recommend over others for safety?

A: No. The commercial grade that they sell in the tents are legal. I don't know if there's any particular one of those that they've had problems with. The biggest thing is just to be careful with them.

Q: What do you do as a fire department to prepare leading up to the Fourth of July holiday?

A: We try to put some … safety tips out. We inspect all the tents that are selling fireworks to make sure they're complying with all the state regulations on that. At the end of the day, legal or not, people are going to shoot them off. They are legal to shoot off in Marion, at very select times … but they’re illegal in Cedar Rapids. Does that mean people aren’t shooting them off in Cedar Rapids? No.

Q: Is there a high risk level this year for wildfires or grass fires?

A: No, it shouldn't be at this point because it's been rainy enough. If you would have asked me that two months ago, three months ago, the answer would have been definitely ‘yes.’ But it's been pretty green at this point. With that being said, obviously if you're lighting fireworks off in an area that's dried up a little bit, that can start brush fires.

Q: Is there any other information or safety tips you want to add?

A: Sparklers actually account for roughly 25 percent of ER visits due to fireworks. The thing a lot of people don't think about is that sparklers can actually burn as hot as 2,000 degrees, and to put that in perspective, glass melts at 900.

Sparklers are one of those things that you hand to your kids, and you're like, ‘Here you go, go play with them,’ and they burn a lot hotter than people think they do. That's where those burn injuries come from is they get too close to skin, or to the body, or somebody throws one at somebody or whatever.