As neighborhoods light up with fireworks, local officials remind residents most fireworks are illegal in Illinois and have serious safety consequences.

“My advice for people is leave it to the professionals,” Marengo Fire Protection District Chief John Kimmel said. “We don’t support the use of residents using fireworks. We know it happens. We see it every year. Any resident using illegal fireworks takes a risk of being citied or arrested depending on size of fireworks.”

[ Several fireworks displays will be held this weekend through McHenry County. ]

Illinois is one of four states where consumer-grade fireworks are illegal, according to the America Pyrotechnics Association. Residents can use sparklers or novelty items that smoke, but explosives that are launched into the air are illegal for personal use in Illinois.

“An easy rule to remember whether or not fireworks are illegal, if it launches or explodes, it’s more than likely illegal,” said McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Byrnes.

Training and a license from the state fire marshal is required to launch fireworks, which limits legal firework use to professionals, Byrnes said.

Fireworks, whether illegal in Illinois or not, come with a safety risk. In 2020, fireworks were responsible for at least 18 deaths and about 15,600 injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“During the summer of 2020, a juvenile who resided in unincorporated McHenry County was to flown to an area hospital due to an eye injury from an illegal firework exploding in their face,” Byrnes said.

Marengo firefighters responded to a call last year for someone who had a firecracker, which also are illegal in Illinois, explode in their hands resulting in burns, Kimmel said.

“With any type of firework, there’s always a danger of burns,” Kimmel said, adding sparklers are also dangerous, especially for young kids to handle.

Marengo firefighters also respond to one or two grass fires each year around Independence Day as a result of fireworks, Kimmel said. A fire at Lippold Park in Crystal Lake in early June was also thought to be caused by fireworks, officials there said.

“My biggest concern is people would think that we got some rain and people now think grass fires aren’t really any threat,” Kimmel said.

While it has been several years since Marengo firefighters responded to a house fire caused by fireworks, the threat doesn’t diminish, Kimmel said.

“Anything that shoots into the air, using them in residential neighborhoods, they could land on someone’s house,” Kimmel said.

Residents should be mindful about how they dispose fireworks, including sparklers, Kimmel said. Putting them in a bucket of water is a good idea and residents should also be careful around decks. Hot fragments of fireworks could fall under the deck where there is dry grass and weeds, which could ignite overnight and cause a house fire.

The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded to 200 calls about fireworks last year, Byrnes said, and deputies will take action if they see illegal fireworks being used.

“Generally, deputies are dispatched to fireworks complaints reported by neighbors in the area, who are witnessing the fireworks and are concerned for the safety of people and property,” Byrnes said. “Deputies on patrol who witness fireworks displays, or discover fireworks inside a vehicle on a traffic stop, may take enforcement action to include issuing a notice to appear and confiscating the fireworks for evidence or destruction.”