Chicago Fire Dept. Warns Of Firework Dangers
CHICAGO (CBS) - The Chicago Fire Department hopes your Fourth of July plans don't involve setting off your own fireworks.
Recent rains were not enough to help dry conditions that could easily turn into fires around fireworks, according to Commissioner Jose Santiago.
Mike Figola, past president of the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance, says almost half of those injured by fireworks are children under age 15.
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He says they are frequently not even the ones playing with the fireworks.
Lurie Children's Hospital ER Doctor Elizabeth Powell says they see a spike in firework injuries around the Fourth, everything from blisters to third degree burns that require skin grafts.
The fire department is targeting sparklers this year, saying many people see them as harmless fun for kids. They burn at about 12-hundred degrees and are illegal in Chicago.
