Light Up The Night: Fireworks Safety Guide

There’s nothing quite like the moment after you hear the little pop of a firework being shot off and before the explosion of color, light and sound fills up the night sky. It encapsulates exactly what fireworks are: beautiful and thrilling, but also dangerous. 

Fireworks are illegal for civilian use in Massachusetts and there aren’t exceptions — sparklers and cherry bombs included. In fact, setting off fireworks can come with a $100 fine and selling them can cost you up to $1,000 — or even jailtime! But, if you want to see a fireworks light up the night, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of opportunities. 

There are displays scheduled throughout the year in Massachusetts, all professionally operated. However, every year lots of people buy illegal fireworks and set them off themselves, and if done incorrectly, this can cause serious injuries. 

“We’ll see injuries to fingers or the whole hand. Another common injury is burns. And sometimes we’ll see eye injuries because of the sparks that fly into the eye,” says Dr. Neha Raukar, a Mayo Clinic emergency medicine physician. 

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ARE FIREWORKS REALLY THAT DANGEROUS?

Fireworks are a tradition during certain holidays and events, but they are literally explosives being shot into the sky, so the concept that there is an element of danger involved shouldn’t come as too much of a shock. 

Between 2012-2021, nearly 1,000 fires and explosions from illegal fireworks were reported, leading to millions of dollars in damages. In addition, Massachusetts medical facilities treated 31 people for severe burn injuries during the same time span. 

HOW CAN YOU BE SAFER WHEN SETTING OFF FIREWORKS?

We can’t emphasize enough that fireworks should only be set off by a professional.  But if you’re going to do it anyway, the Department of Homeland Security recommends the following tips to stay safer. 

• Outdoors only: Only use fireworks outside, and make sure you have a bucket of water or hose nearby in case of accidents.
• Keep back: “Fountain-like” fireworks need a 35-foot perimeter and for aerial fireworks, keep everyone back 150 feet. 
• Duds are duds: If it doesn’t go off, do not try to re-light it. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then put it in a bucket of water to prevent it from going off. 
• Sparklers are hot: Supervise children when handling sparklers because children can receive severe burns if they touch them! 
• Don’t stress your pets: Fireworks can greatly stress out animals, so keep your pets indoors, with closed curtains and blinds and turn the TV or radio on for distraction. Treats are another way to keep their mind occupied. 
• Soak and toss: Before discarding, make sure to soak used fireworks in water for a few hours. 

• Safety first: Never have a part of your body over the firework and never hold a firework in your hand when lighting. Instead, make sure they are safely away from people and use a stem lighter. 
• Take it easy: Only light one off at a time. It is riskier to light off multiple fireworks at once. 

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WHAT DO STATE LAWS SAY ABOUT FIREWORKS?

Each state in the region has different rules for how and when to use fireworks and which are even legal. 

STATE	PERMITTED	PROHIBITTED	LEGAL BUYING AGE
Connecticut	Sparklers and fountains	All other consumer fireworks	16
Maine	Consumer fireworks items tested & certified by a 3rd party laboratory as conforming with CPSC standards.	M-80s, cherry bombs, firecrackers containing more than 50 miligrams of powder, large re-loadable shells, mail kits for building fireworks, Missile type rockets, helicopters, aerial spinners, sky rockets, and bottle rockets, as defined by the State Fire Marshal.	21
Massachusetts	None	All, including sparklers, firecrackers, cherry bombs, and other fireworks	N/A
New Hampshire	Consumer fireworks designated as “Permissible Fireworks including Cylindrical Fountains, Cone Fountains, Ground Spinners ~ Helicopters, Aerial Spinners, Roman Candles, Mines/Cakes/Shells, Reloadable Mortars, Parachutes, Firecrackers, Novelties – Party Poppers, Snaps, and Snakes, Smoke devices containing less than 100g of pyrotechnic composition, Bottle/Sky Rockets/Missiles, Sparklers, Morning Glories	Explosive devices frequently referred to as fireworks because of their resemblance to a large firecracker. These items are commonly known as M-80’s, M-100’s, M-250’s, M500’s, Cherry Bombs, Quarter Sticks, and Blockbusters, these are federally banned and shouldn’t be referred to as fireworks	21
Rhode Island	Ground and hand-held sparkling devices	Firecrackers, rockets, mortars, or a device that launches a projectile, makes a bang, detonates or reports	16
Vermont	Sparklers less than 14” long with no more than 20 grams of pyrotechnic mixture. Novelty sparkling items limited to snakes, party poppers, glow worms, smoke devices, string poppers, snappers, or drop pops with no more than 0.25 grains of explosive mixture, and that are in compliance with CPSC regulations.	All other fireworks	18

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PLEASE LEAVE FIREWORKS DISPLAYS TO THE PROFESSIONALS

“There’s no safe way to use fireworks and so we recommend leaving them all up to professionals,” Dr. Jenny Ziembicki, medical director of the Burn Center at UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh said. “The person lighting it is probably most at risk. But, because you don’t know the trajectory that it’s going take, everybody in the surrounding area is at risk. We see absolutely devastating injuries.” 

Injuries are actually trending upward, according to The Consumer Product Safety Commission. Between 2006 and 2021, there has been a 25% increase in fireworks related injuries. 

“Don’t light fireworks on your own. They are dangerous, if you attend public shows, make sure kids are at a safe distance,” Gina P. Duchossois, an expert with the Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said. “Stay away from sparklers and go with glow sticks.” 

BEEN INJURED BY FIREWORKS?

If you or someone you know has been injured by fireworks, click here to get more information about Keches Law Group’s Injury attorneys.