4th Of July Fireworks 2020: What's Legal, What's Illegal In IL

ILLINOIS — For many of us in Illinois, 2020 has been a year of disappointment and anxiety. The coronavirus pandemic closed schools and businesses and forced the cancellation of milestone events like proms, graduation ceremonies, weddings and even funerals. And summer events like festivals, concerts and 4th of July celebrations have been canceled in many places.

Many residents have taken a DIY approach to some things we're missing out on — cooking more elaborate meals at home instead of dining out, hosting car parades instead of gathering for birthdays and holidays, even baking our own bread and sprucing up our homes and patios.

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But as tempting as it may be, it's not a good idea to DIY your own Independence Day fireworks display. In Illinois, most fireworks (except for some novelty items) are illegal to purchase and set off unless you're a professional.

And it's dangerous. Last year between June 23 and July 30, 56 hospitals in Illinois reported admitting 143 patients with fireworks injuries.

Last July, a 53-year-old Chicago man was killed in a fireworks accident after suffering a head injury. In 2017, a 42-year-old man was killed on the Southwest Side when fireworks he was checking exploded in his face. Police said the man was putting on a fireworks display for kids when he lit a tube designed to fire pyrotechnics up to 50 feet in the air. But the fireworks didn't go off as expected, and as the man bent over to inspect the tube, they ignited and struck him in the face.

Of those injured by fireworks in 2019, the state fire marshal said 90 were male. Almost half of all injuries, or about 48 percent, involved people over 22 years of age. Children under 6 and 7-10 year-olds accounted for 22 percent of all injuries.

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These types of fireworks were listed as the cause of injuries in Illinois last year:

• Sparklers/unknown: 19 percent
• Mortars: 17 percent
• Firecrackers: 12 percent
• Bottle rockets and smoke/cherry bombs: 8 percent
• Salutes and Roman candles: 7 percent

More than 40 percent of injuries, including amputations and dismemberment, affected hands and fingers. Other fireworks-related injuries in Illinois:

• Second-degree burns: 26 percent
• Injuries to the head/face: 17 percent
• Abrasions: 15 percent
• Injuries to fingers: 11 percent
• Injuries to arms: 10 percent
• Injuries to legs and eyes: 9 percent

What fireworks are illegal in Illinois?

Buying fireworks is illegal in Illinois, but before you try to get around that by heading into nearby Indiana, keep in mind: the Illinois Pyrotechnic Use Act prohibits the sale, possession and use of consumer fireworks — and what's legal to purchase across state lines could net you up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine once you cross back into Illinois.

Nationwide, fireworks including M-80s and cherry bombs (anything containing more than 50 milligrams of "pyrotechnic composition") are banned.

In Illinois, prohibited fireworks include, but are not limited to:

• Hand held fireworks
• Bottle rockets
• Firecrackers of any size or type
• Sky rockets
• Roman candles
• Chasers
• Buzz bombs
• Ground items other than those identified as Approved Consumer Fireworks
• Helicopters
• Missiles
• Pin wheels or any other twirling device whether on the ground or mounted above the ground
• Planes
• Sky Lanterns, the type of balloon which requires fire underneath to propel them

What's legal?

The fireworks you can purchase and use in Illinois — unless you're a professional with a permit — are pretty limited. Certain novelty fireworks are unregulated, meaning the sale and use of those items is permitted, but under the Pyrotechnic Use Act, municipalities have the authority to prohibit the sale and use of sparklers on public property.

According to the state fire marshal, permitted novelties include:

• snake or glow worm pellets;
• smoke devices;
• trick noisemakers known as "party poppers," "booby traps," "snappers," "trick matches," "cigarette loads," and "auto burglar alarms;"
• sparklers;
• toy pistols, toy canes, toy guns, or other devices in which paper or plastic caps containing twenty-five hundredths grains or less of explosive compound are used, provided they are so constructed that the hand cannot come in contact with the cap when in place for the explosion; and
• toy pistol paper or plastic caps that contain less than twenty hundredths grains of explosive mixture.

Editor's note: Some information in this article was originally published in July 2017 and has been updated to include 2019 injury information.