4th Of July Fireworks 2021: What's Legal, What's Not In Illinois

ILLINOIS — The 4th of July is just around the corner, and many local police departments are reminding residents to leave the fireworks to the professionals or face hefty fines. Except for mostly novelty items, fireworks are illegal to purchase or use in the State of Illinois, and efforts to legalize them in the state have fizzled out.

While each town has its own fireworks ordinance, the state fire marshal is clear when it comes to pyrotechnics: leave it to the professionals.

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As with 2020, some local fireworks displays have been canceled for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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. In 2020, 89 Illinois hospitals reported treating 163 patients with fireworks-related injuries — an increase from 2019, when 56 hospitals reported admitting 143 patients with fireworks injuries.

There were no fireworks-related fatalities in 2020, but a 53-year-old Chicago man was killed in a fireworks accident the year before.

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.

Fireworks injuries

Of the 163 Illinois residents injured by fireworks in 2020, the state fire marshal said 120 were male. More than half, or 59 percent, were over age 22. The number of children ages 11 to 16 who were injured almost doubled between 2019 and 2020, increasing from 12 to 23.

Around half of all people injured by fireworks suffered multiple injuries, according to the fire marshal.

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

• Mortars: 26 percent
• Unknown: 20 percent
• Sparklers: 12 percent
• Roman candles: 10 percent
• Bottle rockets: 9 percent
• Salutes: 6 percent
• Handheld fireworks: 4 percent
• Firecrackers: 4 percent
• Homemade devices: 4 percent

More than 50 percent of fireworks injuries in 2020 affected hands and fingers. Dismemberment/amputation injuries increased to 19 from 12 the year before, and two people suffered loss of sight due to fireworks injuries in 2020.

Other fireworks-related injuries in Illinois:

• Second-degree burns: 27 percent
• Abrasions and lacerations: 22 percent
• First-degree burns: 20 percent
• Injuries to the head/face: 13 percent
• Injuries to legs: 13 percent
• Third-degree burns: 3 percent
• Loss of sight: 1 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.