VIDEO: Fire Marshal Highlights Dangers Of Illegal Fireworks

With the Fourth of July weekend looming, the Office of the Washington State Fire Marshal has launched a campaign to warn all state citizens of the dangers of fireworks.

It's not the kind of fireworks many people buy at local party supply stores that are the biggest danger. It's the under-the-table explosives and illegal fireworks contraband that could take off an arm, a leg or more from uninitiated consumers.

Kirkland some years ago implemented a  year-round ban on all fireworks, and this year that prohibition extends into the city's new northern neighborhoods -- Finn Hill, north Juanita and Kingsgate -- annexed on June 1. In the past, as part of unincorporated King County, "safe and sane" fireworks were legal in those areas.

While retail fireworks stands officially opened in Washington state today, June 28, State Fire Marshal Chuck Duffy and other state officials held a demonstration Friday in Renton to show the public how life-threatening fireworks can be in the wrong hands.

"The goal to celebrate safely is something we're constantly working on," Duffy said. "Personal fireworks require personal responsibility. There is much that can be done to protect children and others from fireworks injuries."

According to information provided by the Fire Marshal's office, in 2010, there were 414 fires reported by fire departments related to fireworks as well as 162 injuries reported by hospital emergency rooms. 

Of those 162 injuries, 50 involved children under the age of 14. The fire incidents alone represented approximately $2.1 million in property loss.

Despite the damages, this represents a 53 percent reduction in incidents from 2009, when there were 1,236 incidents.

"If everyone uses fireworks responsibly, we can have a more fun 4th of July," said Jerry Farley of the Fireworks Industry Commission. "If you're going to buy fireworks, buy them at a legal, licensed stand. It makes no sense for someone to use fireworks in a dangerous place."

According to the Fire Marshal's Office, there are four kinds of fireworks. 

Consumer fireworks are legal to be sold, possessed and/or discharged during Independence Day and New Year's celebrations. The fireworks for public displays require a license to sell, possess or use.

Federally legal consumer fireworks are legal to to sell, possess or use on tribal lands only.

Everything else is considered forbidden. These are typically hand-held devices that exceed the audible or pyrotechnical standards that the Fire Marshal's Office sets for consumer use.

Explosives Enforcement Officer Brennan Phillips and several other explosives technicians from the FBI and the Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives then demonstrated the mishandling of fireworks using a pair of mannequins and wooden stands.

Phillips tested several kinds of illegal fireworks contraband such as tennis ball bombs, cardboard m80's, CO2 canister explosives, sparkler bombs, quick fuses and overloaded rocket-type explosives.