CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Fire officials and emergency room physicians are concerned about fireworks injuries following a pandemic-related spike last year.
Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance Holt said she’s hoping there’s not a repeat of last year, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission said more than 15,000 Americans were injured by fireworks, 18 were killed and there 19 Illinois residents were dismembered.
The number of injured and killed was up 50 percent, which was attributed to more people setting off fireworks at home, because the pandemic shut down professional displays.
"Fireworks are banned statewide. The City of Chicago also bans sparklers and bottle rockets," Nance Holt said.
Dr. Princey George, an ER physician at Comer Children’s Hospital, said burns from sparklers and other fireworks can put children in the hospital for months, in some cases, and there's a risk that infections can cause death.
"Children have lost a hand, a leg, or an eye, or have very serious burns," Dr. George said.
Aileen Marquez knows that. Her 5-year-old daughter suffered burns over 70-percent of her body when another child with a sparkler set her dress on fire.
She said her daughter tried to run from the flames.
"She will forever have those physical scars, and we as her family will forever have the emotional ones," Marquez said.
The fire department did a sparkler demonstration at Comer, igniting a t-shirt with a sparkler.
Aside from injuries, a University of Chicago psychiatrist Dr. Royce Lee said fireworks can also be PTSD triggers for combat veterans and gunshot victims. And a veterinarian said they can be very stressful for pets, as well.
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