'You’re Just Supplying People With Bombs:' Despite Dad’s Plea Fireworks Regulations Getting Looser
Devon Staples died on Saturday night in Calais, Maine, after holding a firework to his head as a joke. (Photo: Facebook/Devon Staples)
The parents of a 22-year-old who was killed after a live firecracker exploded on his head are calling for stricter fireworks regulations.
Russ Staples tells the Bangor Daily News that his son Devon had been holding a fireworks mortar tube on his head as a joke, thinking that it was a dud and couldn’t ignite. A spark somehow ignited the firework, killing Devon at a house party in Maine on the 4th of July.
Fireworks retailers are “just supplying people with bombs. That doesn’t make sense to me,” Staples told the newspaper.
His wife Kathleen Staples agrees, adding that there should be a training licensing program for the handling of fireworks, similar to the training for using motor vehicles.
Sales of fireworks are on the rise because state regulations are getting looser. (Photo: Getty Images)
Devon Staples’ death wasn’t the only serious fireworks-related incident over the holiday weekend. Two men in Indiana were killed in two separate fireworks accidents, a 12-year-old boy in Nashville was killed after fireworks hit him in the chest, and a Detroit man died after a fireworks shell he was holding to his head exploded. New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is still hospitalized after suffering a serious hand injury on Saturday while attempting to light fireworks. According to NFL.com, his $60 million long-term contract with the Giants may be withdrawn as a result.
Unfortunately, injuries from fireworks aren’t rare. According to the 2015 Fireworks Safety Survey conducted by Harris Polls, nearly 30 percent of people know someone who has been injured by fireworks and almost 10 percent of people say they’ve been injured by fireworks.
Related: Brain Science Explains This 22-Year-Old’s Tragic Death by Fireworks
Fireworks injuries are most common on the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. But despite the headline-grabbing deaths this 4th of July, fireworks-related injuries are actually going down, fireworks expert Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, tells Yahoo Health — even as people are buying the explosives at “record levels.”
State regulations are getting looser
Sales are on the rise, she says, because state regulations are getting looser: New York recently lifted its ban on fireworks and Georgia modified its law, echoing a trend in relaxing fireworks restrictions that started in 2000.
The states labeled in blue allow some or all types of consumer fireworks permitted by federal regulations. States in white allow only wire or wood stick sparklers, and states in red ban all consumer fireworks. (Graphic: American Pyrotechnics Association)
Currently, consumer fireworks are only illegal in Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Vermont allow only wire, wood-stick sparklers, and other novelty items, but the rest of the country allows some or all types of consumer fireworks that are permitted under federal regulations.
However, Heckman says, fireworks regulations can vary from county to county. In certain parts of Maryland, for example, you can use ground-based sparklers, but they’re banned in other counties.
Scott Wolfson, communications director for the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, which regulates fireworks in the U.S. acknowledges that states regulations are becoming looser but warns that fireworks are still inherently dangerous.
“Our chairman, Elliot Kaye, respects that states can make their own decisions on the laws and rules for consumers in their state but he is concerned about the number of deaths and injuries that we are tracking each year for fireworks that tie to both legal and illegal products,” Wolfson tells Yahoo Health.
Each year, there are more than 10,000 fireworks-related injuries — many of which are serious burns, says Wolfson. While the overall number of injuries that occur each year is on the decline, Wolfson says the number is still “unacceptably high.”
It sounds counterintuitive, but Heckman says the prevalence of fireworks makes it less likely that injuries will occur. “When fireworks are permissible, people tend to take the time to plan their activity — they think about where they’re going to use the product and where spectators will be,” she explains. “When fireworks are not allowed and people choose to break the law, they’re very careless. That’s when we tend to see injuries and fires occur.”
Of course, banning fireworks doesn’t mean people won’t get their hands on them and Heckman points out that it’s difficult to regulate fireworks use since police typically have more important things to do. People often carry them across state and county lines, but they’ll also buy them on the black market…and that’s where it gets dangerous.
Fireworks are regulated by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, which has banned M-80 fireworks, quarter sticks, and cherry bombs. And all three can cause serious injury, says Heckman: “A legal explosive will sting if you lit and held it in your hand; an illegal explosive will blow your hand off.”
Heckman stresses that it’s crucial to read the instructions that come with fireworks and to steer clear of ones that seem to be duds for at least 20 minutes (and then douse them with water before approaching them).
Hoping to light fireworks sometime this summer?
Call your local fire department to see what’s allowed in your county and make sure the ones that you do buy are legal.
And just because the 4th has passed, doesn’t mean you’re not at risk of an injury. Wolfson says about 70 percent of all injuries from fireworks occur in the 30 days leading up to and after the 4th. “People still have leftover fireworks that they will be setting off,” he explains.
If you’re planning to set them off, only handle them when you’re sober. Kathleen Staples admits her son had been drinking during his accident and says she hopes his death will remind people to that alcohol and fireworks don’t mix.
“I spent 22 years keeping that boy safe,” she told CBS News. “Do not drink, you need to have a designated sober person that is making life and death decisions with these things.”
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