More fireworks-related fires broke out in Chicago than on any Fourth of July in at least the last two decades.
Firefighters extinguished 13 fires throughout the city that were caused by fireworks, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The number is expected to climb as investigators confirm more fires.
No one was injured in the fires, Langford said, though one man died while handling fireworks on the Northwest Side. Another man severely injured his hand.
Most of the fires began on porches or garages and spread to homes, Langford said. At least one fire started in a dumpster. He said the fires were evenly distributed across the city.
“It was pretty widespread,” he said, adding that the worst fire was near 59th Street and Hoyne Avenue.
Langford said he was shocked at the number of fires caused by fireworks this year.
“I’ve been monitoring them for 20 years, and I haven’t seen this many,” he said.
Although no one died or was hurt in the fires, a man was killed while handling fireworks in the Hermosa neighborhood. When the man checked on a firework that did not initially go off, the man stuck his head over it, and it exploded, Langford said. Chicago hasn’t had that type of fireworks-related death in a couple years, he said.
Later Thursday evening, a man severely injured his hand from fireworks in the 9400 block of South Wabash Avenue, according to Chicago police.
Although this Fourth of July saw an alarming number of fireworks-related fires across the city, the number of overall fireworks complaints showed no major change from the last few years.
On Thursday, 1,496 fireworks complaints were called into 911, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. That’s slightly more than the 1,471 calls made on the holiday last year, but considerably less than the 1,671 complaints in 2022.
Consumer fireworks are largely banned in Illinois, but that doesn’t stop residents from buying them in nearby fireworks-friendly states.
Fireworks use was expected to reach an all-time high over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, which said the fireworks industry is now valued at $2.4 billion.
Nationally, more than 31,000 fires were attributed to fireworks use in 2022, according to the National Fire Protection Association. That included 3,504 structure fires, 887 vehicle fires and 26,492 outside fires. Six people died in the fires and 44 people were injured.