- Author
-
Hall, J. R., Jr.
- Title
- Fireworks-Related Injuries, Deaths, and Fires.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Assoc., Quincy, MA
- Distribution
- AVAILABLE FROM: NFPA One Stop Data Shop, 1 Batterymarch Park, P.O. Box 9101, Quincy, MA 02269-9101. Telephone: 617-984-7540, Fax: 617-984-7478, Email: osds@nfpa.org. Website: http://www.nfpa.org
- Keywords
-
fireworks accidents
|
injuries
|
death
|
fire statistics
- Abstract
- In 2001, 9,500 people injured by fireworks were treated in a hospital emergency room. The trend in fireworks-related injuries has been up since 1996. An unusually large number of injuries occurred in 2000, with most of the difference associated with New Years Day celebrations of the U.S. Bicentennial. Injuries were higher in 1984-1995 than in recent years but lower in the mid-1970s and earlier. (See Figure 1.) In 1999, there were 24,200 reported fires started by fireworks. These fires resulted in 12 civilian deaths, 55 civilian injuries, and $17.2 million in direct property damage. (See Table 1.) Most of the fires were outdoor brush or refuse fires, but most of the loss occurred in fires with structures involved. These fires may have begun with outdoor use of fireworks, as when a bottle rocket, launched outside, lands on a roof or other location not easily accessed, where it can ignite combustibles before anyone can retrieve it. Changes in NFIRS pose opportunities and challenges in describing and tracking the problem. The statistics in this report are national estimates derived from the US Fire Administrations (USFAs) National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) in combination with NFPAs annual fire department survey. State agencies and local fire departments began implementing NFIRS Version 5.0 in 1999. Data that was collected in an earlier version was converted to Version 5.0. Some conversions were straightforward and many data elements stayed fairly stable. In other sections, logic and definitions changed significantly, making it harder to track trends. In Version 4.1, fireworks were usually understood to include two categories under form of heat of ignition code 63 (fireworks) and code 64 (paper cap or party popper). In Version 5.0, these two groups of devices are combined into one Heat Source code 54 (fireworks). Detailed information about NFIRS, including Version 4.1 and 5.0 codes and conversion tables, can be obtained from http://www.usfa.fema.gov/. Because this report has only analyzed fireworks-related fires by year and because the coding of fireworks, and of heat source generally, has changed little in the NFIRS changes, the 1999 statistics can be compared to the pre-1999 statistics. Coding of outdoor fires has changed, however, with cause information omitted for outdoor refuse fires. In the future, when more fires are coded directly in Version 5.0, this change will require adjustments in analysis protocols.