Every year around July 4, injuries are reported in emergency rooms across the county due to accidents caused by fireworks.

“They're illegal," said Dr. Gregg Kling of the Kishwaukee Health Center emergency room.

"Having said that, we're surrounded by states where they're legal, so we know they're being used," he added.

Kling is nobody's fool; as a doctor, he says his first comment must be that they are against the law (or, at least, the really fun ones are). But like the rest of us, Kling hears the bangs and pops that fill the July evenings, reminders that few adhere to the anti-pyrotechnic legislation.

Fireworks caused 120 injuries in Illinois around last year's 4th of July, and 9,200 nationwide in 2006, according to a press release from the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM).

"We'll see anything from partial amputations of the fingers to, with the big fireworks, a loss of limb," Kling said.

"We've seen the bigger ones go astray and hit someone in the leg and almost blow their leg off," he said of one incident from years past.

Even the seemingly innocuous sparkler, often waved in the hands of young children, can be dangerous: according to the OSFM, sparklers came in first place for injuries caused last year, with 23 injuries reported (and only 86 of Illinois' 198 hospitals participated in the surveying).

"We've all been around: you hear the fireworks popping off around the fourth," said Karl Froehlich, Fire Prevention Officer for the DeKalb Fire Department. "Illegal fireworks are a big cause of injury and property damage throughout the country," he warned.

There are constant urgings from officials to be content with party poppers and snakes, but it's clear that few can resist the lure of the state line fireworks emporium.

"We would say, follow the law and don't use them, but if you're not going to adhere to that, use every precaution," Kling said.

The OSFM Web site, www.state.il.us/osfm/ has more information on fireworks safety.

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