Leave it to the pros: Suffolk officials warn against danger of illegal fireworks

Fourth of July is coming up and officials are warning residents about the dangers of illegal fireworks.

County Executive Ed Romaine called a press conference yesterday at the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank to remind residents that fireworks are illegal to purchase or use because they are inherently dangerous products. Illegal fireworks cause numerous injuries every year and even fatalities — on average, one death in Suffolk County every five years, Romaine said.

Some people think sparklers are harmless and many regularly give them to young children. That’s a big mistake, Romaine said. 

“Sparklers are illegal,” Romaine said. Like all fireworks, “they’re illegal for a reason,” he said. They cause injuries.

A state law that took effect in January 2018 allows the sale and use of hand-held and ground-based “sparkling devices” in New York — unless a county has banned them locally. Suffolk County did exactly that in May 2018, finding that “sparkling devices… pose an unacceptable risk to public safety.” 

Typically, sparklers cause burn injuries, some of them very serious. In the U.S. in 2023, 700 emergency department-treated injuries were associated with sparklers, according to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“Sparklers burn at between 1,200 and 2,000 degrees. A match burns at 800 degrees,” Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Rudy Sunderman added. “You wouldn’t give a child a match. Why give them a sparker?”

Two-thousand degrees is as hot as a blow torch and hot enough to melt some metals, according to the federal commission.

Children ages 5 to 9 have the second-highest rate of fireworks-related injuries nationally.  Teens ages 15 to 19 have the highest rate.

All told, last year 9,700 people were treated in ERs for fireworks injuries across the country. Forty-two percent of fireworks-related injuries are burns, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. There were eight fireworks-related fatalities nationwide in 2023.

Thirty-five percent of people injured by fireworks injured their fingers or their hands, Romaine said yesterday. “22% their head, their face, their ears, their neck, 19% their eyes, 11% other parts of their body, 8% legs, 5% arms.”

Both the county executive and Deputy Police Commissioner Kevn Catalina referenced a serious injury from fireworks over the weekend in Brentwood. 

Suffolk County Police said in a press release Sunday morning that a 66-year-old Brentwood man was seriously injured while using fireworks in the yard of his residence. An exploding firework severed his left hand and three fingers of his right hand, police said. The man was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital in serious condition, according to the press release. 

“We can’t stress enough how dangerous it is,” Catalina said. “Leave it to the professionals.”

Catalina said just storing fireworks can be very dangerous. “People often go to other states to buy them and they leave them in their cars. We’re  going to show you what can happen when you leave them in your car,” Catalina said. 

The deputy commissioner asked anyone with information about people possessing or selling fireworks in Suffolk to call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS to make an anonymous report.   

Illegal fireworks caused more than 19,000 fires in the U.S. last year, Romaine said.

Officials staged a demonstration of fireworks in a vehicle exploding and setting the vehicle on fire. It was quickly consumed by flames as the sounds of explosions and rockets within the burning vehicle punctuated the sound of the roaring flames. 

“Don’t allow someone you care about to shoot off fireworks,” Romaine said. 

“Don’t spend money on something that’s illegal for a reason,” he said. “If you want to do something for Independence Day, take the money you’d spend on the fireworks and donate it to a food kitchen,” Romaine said. “If we want to show how proud we are as Americans, let’s make sure all Americans have enough to eat,” Romaine said.

Officials also warned against driving or boating while impaired by alcohol or drugs. There will be increased patrols on the roads and waterways to apprehend impaired drivers and boaters, Romaine said.