Fireworks safety sparks debate

When David Hank was growing up in Wisconsin, there was no need to head to the park or local festival to enjoy a Fourth of July fireworks spectacle.

"I remember M-80's and the whole ball of wax. We'd put something in a can or bottle and shoot it up," said Hank, of Hoffman Estates. "We had them all the time. It should just be part of the Fourth of July celebration."

Hank is among those throughout the Northwest suburbs who thinks fireworks should be set off, albeit under close supervision, while others Friday supported an outright ban.

Joe Jefferson, also of Hoffman Estates, recalls many fireworks-packed Independence Day galas as a kid, except he was at least 50 yards away and his dad was lighting the fuse.

"When we were growing up, it was adults only," Jefferson said. "It should be more supervised."

The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission recently released data that shows about 10,800 people were treated across the country in 2007 for fireworks-related injuries.

Outside of licensed fireworks displays, Illinois law prohibits most types of so-called backyard fireworks, excluding sparklers, smoke bombs and snakes.

But several suburban communities, and Chicago in September, have taken the law a step further and banned all fireworks, including sparklers, outright.

That's sparked debate on whether to outlaw what many see as a Fourth of July staple, even among those who've had some close calls of their own while toying with fireworks.

As a 12-year-old, Jim Archuleta was throwing Black Cat firecrackers out his bedroom window when one exploded near his face. He wasn't hurt, but he said it taught him to stay away from things that go boom.

Still, the Wheaton father of two doesn't have anything against people buying their own stash of fireworks.

"I'll let my kids do the sparklers," Archuleta said. "And I don't see a problem if parents are supervising their kids lighting up a smoke bomb or two."

Twenty-five years ago, a friend lit a sparkler inside Kerry Jenson's apartment and burned the carpet, but that hasn't turned him against the sale or use of sparklers altogether.

"I think they're OK," said Jenson, of Elgin. "But they really have to be supervised because they can be dangerous."

John Perfecto of Mt. Prospect recalls he and other kids in the 1970s lighting up anything they'd find laying around, "because we didn't know what we were doing," but now says fireworks are taboo.

"There's enough fireworks shows out there you can watch that are professional shows," Perfecto said. "You don't have to have them in your backyards."

Some speculated whether an all-out ban on sparklers and other fireworks could stick, especially when they're for sale in neighboring Wisconsin and Indiana.

And on a holiday celebrating Independence and personal freedom, a handful of others questioned if sparklers and other fireworks bans go too far.

"We're a little overprotective of our child," said Joe Tobolski, at Naperville's Ribfest with his wife, Susan, and 11-month-old daughter, Evelyn. "We'd keep sparklers away from (Evelyn) until she's old enough ... But people should decide for themselves what's right."

Daily Herald staff writers Chad Brooks, Jack Komperda and Jameel Naqvi contributed to this report.

Here's a few Northwest suburban towns with all-out fireworks bans:

Algonquin, Batavia, Buffalo Grove, Cary, Geneva, Lake in the Hills, Lake Zurich, Naperville, Palatine, St. Charles, Wood Dale, West Chicago