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With the Fourth days away, officials warn of fireworks dangers

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 1, 2009 01:25 PM

By Vivian Nereim, Globe Correspondent

MILTON – The boom of a powerful M-80 firecracker echoed across the Blue Hills Reservation, blasting a plume of smoke into the air and hurling a mannequin to the ground, where its charred remnants sizzled.

This morning near Houghtons Pond, with July 4th fast approaching, fire officials and public health experts held a fireworks safety demonstration to urge parents and children to stay away from consumer fireworks, which are illegal in Massachusetts.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan warned against what he called “the continued injuries and rampant use of illegal fireworks” that he has seen in past years and expects to see this year, too. Coan said most illegal fireworks are transported into the state by Massachusetts residents who buy them in neighboring New Hampshire, where consumer fireworks are legal.

“There are outlets very close to our borders set there specifically to entice Massachusetts citizens,” he said, noting that transporting fireworks that are bought legally into Massachusetts is still illegal and can result in a minimum $100 fine.

“Consumer fireworks are so inherently dangerous, they should not be used,” said James M. Shannon, president of the National Fire Protection Association.

Coan, Shannon and others urged residents to seek out professional fireworks displays on Independence Day and told parents to set examples for their children by staying away from illegal fireworks.

Jonathan Jackson, a track and field Olympic hopeful from Texas who was blinded in his right eye at age 8 when a firework set off by another child hit him, offered a cautionary tale.

“This is something that could happen to you,” he said.

Jackson said he has struggled with his partial blindness since the accident, which has inhibited his ability to play sports and barred him from becoming a firefighter like his father. “I could have just gone to see a professional display,” he said.

Nationwide, nearly 10,000 people are treated in emergency rooms for fireworks related injuries each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

“These are all 100 percent preventable injuries, said Dr. Amy Rezak, a trauma burn surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

In the past decade, there have been 713 major fires and explosions from fireworks in Massachusetts, causing 1 death, 23 injuries and nearly $1.6 million in property loss, according to the Department of Fire Services in the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

As part of the press conference, the State Police bomb squad set off three types of fireworks near child-sized mannequins – a sparkler, the M-80, and a “cake” of aerial fireworks – to demonstrate the severity of the injuries these consumer fireworks can inflict.

“I really have been doing this for a lot of years,” said Coan. “I understand that by being here today we’re not going to eliminate this problem.” But he said he was hoping that at least a few families would listen.