Crime & Safety

Plainfield Fire Dept.: Celebrate 4th of July Safely

Steer clear of the emergency room this holiday.

Submitted by the Plainfield Fire Protection District:

The Plainfield Fire Protection District urges everyone to be careful if you use fireworks to celebrate the Independence Day holiday.  Every year emergency rooms treat people that are injured by fireworks.  Injuries to the hands, fingers, head, face, eyes and ears are the most common fireworks related injuries.  More than half of all injuries are burns. 

Fireworks classified as “novelty fireworks” are allowed in Illinois and include sparklers, snake or glow worm pellets, smoke devices, trick noisemakers like party poppers and toy pistols or similar devices that use plastic or paper caps.  Sparklers burn at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, a lit sparkler can cause a serious burn, and can also set clothing, decks, grass and mulch on fire.  Don’t run around with lit sparklers and do not use them while standing on a wooden deck or other combustible material.  Always have a bucket of sand available to dispose of used sparklers.  If your clothing catches on fire, stop, drop to the ground, cover your face with your hands, and roll over and over to smother the flames and put the fire out.  Keep a charged garden hose nearby to extinguish any small fire that could develop in grass or mulch.    

The fireworks classified as “consumer fireworks” that are illegal in Illinois include hand held fireworks, bottle rockets, firecrackers of any size or type, sky rockets, roman candles, chasers, buzz bombs, most ground items, helicopters, missiles, pin wheels or any other twirling device whether on the ground or mounted above the ground, planes and sky Lanterns, the type of balloon which requires fire underneath to propel it.

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For more fire and life safety information, please call the Plainfield Fire Protection District at 815-436-5335 ext 7314.  You may also visit us on the web at www.plainfieldfpd.com.  The Plainfield Fire Protection District wishes everyone a safe and happy Independence Day Holiday.  


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