Gwinnett is Metro Atlanta's Riskiest County for Fireworks Damage

Gwinnett County is most at risk from fireworks damage this 4th of July than any other metro Atlanta county, according to a new study.

Lawnstarter, a Texas-based digital company that connects user with lawn care services, took five factors into account to assess a county's risk of fireworks damage:

• Drought severity figures from the National Drought Mitigation Center;
• Fire protection rating statistics from the Insurance Services Office;
• 2015 U.S. Census population;
• Square mileage as reported by the Census, and;
• Kids under 18 as estimated by the Census.

A total of 20 metro counties were reporting severe drought conditions as of June 21, 2016:

1. Gwinnett
2. Fulton
3. Barrow
4. Forsyth
5. Henry
6. Cobb
7. Walton
8. DeKalb
9. Paulding
10. Clayton
11. Rockdale
12. Coweta
13. Newton
14. Meriwether
15. Douglas
16. Carroll
17. Fayette
18. Cherokee
19. Spalding
20. Butts

Fireworks were legally approved in Georgia last year, but the law was modified in the 2015 General Assembly that reduced the times that fireworks could be ignited. However, it also allowed local governments to extend those times for certain holidays.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 230 people a day visit ERs to be treated for fireworks-related injuries in the month around the Fourth of July.

Here are some other facts about the dangers of fireworks from the National Fire Protection Association:

• From 2009-2013, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 18,500 fires caused by fireworks. These fires included 1,300 structure fires, 300 vehicle fires and 16,900 outside and other fires. An estimated two people were killed in these fires.

• In 2014, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 10,500 people for fireworks related injuries; 51% of those injuries were to the extremities and 38% were to the head. These injury estimates were obtained or derived from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s 2014 Fireworks Annual Report by Yongling Tu and Demar Granados.
• The risk of fireworks injury is highest for young people ages 5-9, followed by children 10-19.
• More than one-quarter (28%) of fires started by fireworks in 2009-2013 were reported on July 4. Almost half (47%) of the reported fires on the Fourth of July were started by fireworks.