Personal Injury Law

Fireworks accident critically injures Chicago man

Unfortunately, yearly on this holiday, stories hit the Chicago newspapers of Illinois residents injured by fireworks. And unfortunately again, this year is no different. A 28 year-old South Chicago man received severe personal injuries in a Chicago fireworks accident over the weekend. The Illinois man was trying to explode a fireworks device. According to Chicago police, the man noticed that the firework did not detonate after the man lit it, so he picked up the device to take a second look. The firework exploded near the Illinois man?s face and he was sent to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn for treatment of massive facial injuries. Chicago police are investigating, but suspect that the firework device may have been an M-series device, which is a type of explosive that closely resembles a stick of dynamite rather than a firecracker. In the state of Illinois, firecrackers, Roman candles, bottle rockets, and other aerial exploding fireworks are illegal.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a statement stating that celebrating the Fourth of July is joyful, but can quickly turn into devastation when adults and children receive personal injuries while using fireworks. The CPSC stated that some fireworks, such as illegal firecracker type devices (M-80?s, quarter sticks) and professional display fireworks, should never be used or handled by consumers due to serious injuries and deaths can and do occur. Indeed, the Chicago personal injury lawyers at Levin & Perconti read yearly about awful personal injuries sustained after handling illegal fireworks in Illinois.

The CPSC offers some tips for celebrating safely this year. Please be safe this Fourth of July!

Full post as published by Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog on July 05, 2010 (boomark / email).