Half-dozen Angelenos suffer burns and limb injuries this Fourth of July, fire officials say
At least six Angelenos suffered burns and injuries to their eyes and limbs while handling fireworks this Fourth of July, fire officials said.
Los Angeles City firefighters responded to 36 fireworks-related incidents during a 24-hour period on July Fourth, according to department spokesman Erik Scott. Among the calls, a half-dozen involved some type of injury.
Firefighters responded to an additional half-dozen fireworks calls from midnight July Fourth to Tuesday morning within their 470-square-mile jurisdiction.
Scott said the call response for fireworks-related incidents was “on par with previous years.”
A 9-year-old girl was injured about 12:30 p.m. Saturday in an illegal fireworks explosion while playing at Burrell-MacDonald Park in the 2500 block of West Alondra Boulevard in Compton, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The girl lost her left hand and suffered injuries to her right hand and face during the explosion.
“They came out and saw her standing at the park, and her entire left hand was missing,” Sgt. Daniel Tobin said. “She was just in shock, and they quickly grabbed her, put her in a car and whisked her to the hospital. Unfortunately, the damage was beyond any sort of repair.”
Investigators were trying to determine whether the girl was holding a firecracker during the explosion.
According to a 2015 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report, teens 15 to 19 had the highest rate of fireworks-related injuries and needed emergency room treatment. About 1,900 patients treated at U.S. emergency rooms had been playing with sparklers and 800 were handling bottle rockets.
About 1,200 hospital injuries were associated with firecrackers. An estimated 18% of hospital patients had been playing with illegal firecrackers.
Some of the most common causes of injury include being too close to lit fireworks, setting off fireworks improperly and lighting fireworks in someone’s hand. Other causes included malfunctioning fireworks.
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