On June 26, 1984, Gerald D. Fines, United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, on behalf of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, filed a complaint and motion for preliminary injunction to stop the sale of kits and components intended to produce dangerous, banned fireworks.
Acting on behalf of the CPSC, the United States Attorney has charged Capitol Fireworks Company of Springfield, Illinois with the selling of banned components of fireworks devices. The papers filed with the court request a preliminary injunction to protect consumers from serious injury due to the extremely hazardous nature of the fireworks devices which those components are designed to produce.
Mail order kits and components for making the large banned Class B fireworks have been a serious concern to the Commission. A 14-year-old male was critically injured recently as a result of an explosion in his home while he was mixing explosive chemicals purchased by mail order. These kits and components enable untrained consumers to make fireworks devices containing very large amounts of chemicals which can be exceedingly powerful and dangerous to the user.
While approximately 8,300 persons were treated in hospital emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries during 1983, the Commission's data sources do not identify what percentage of these injuries resulted from fireworks kits and components. Certainly, the hazard potential of using these kits and components is considerable.
The Commission also continues to enforce its ban of the sale of the dangerous Class B fireworks devices at the retail level. These include Cherry Bombs, M-80's, Silver Salutes, M-100's and M-1000's (also known as "baby dynamite"). In recent actions resulting from investigations by the Commission's field staff, the Atchison County, Missouri Sheriff's Department confiscated approximately $4,300 worth of banned fireworks devices from two Rock Port, Missouri retailers. In addition to any local fines and penalties, the sale of banned fireworks or of kits and components intended to produce banned fireworks devices is a violation of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act administered by the Commission. Violations are punishable by a fine of $500 and 90 days imprisonment for a first offense, and a fine of $3,000 and one year imprisonment for second and subsequent offenses.
The Commission urges consumers to take the following precautions:
- Parents should supervise the ordering and use of mail-order "make your own" fireworks kits or components. Some kits can produce dangerous explosive devices.
- Do not use any of the large Class B devices such as Cherry Bombs, M-80's, Silver Salutes, M-100's and M-1000's. These items are dangerous and banned. Report any sales to your state or local police.
- Provide adult supervision for children and do not allow very young children to handle fireworks.
- Light only one firework device at a time.
- Soak malfunctioning fireworks devices with water to prevent their possible future use.
Additional information may be obtained by calling the Commission's Toll Free Hotline at 800-638-CPSC. A teletypewriter number for the hearing-impaired is (800) 638-8270.
About the U.S. CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. Since the CPSC was established more than 50 years ago, it has worked to ensure the safety of consumer products, which has contributed to a decline in injuries associated with these products.
Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.
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