While purchasing consumer fireworks is legal in Iowa, shooting them off can pose a risk to yourself, children, neighbors, and property.

According to the National Safety Council, in 2017 eight people died and over 12,000 were given medical treatment due to fireworks-related incidents. Of those incidents, 50% of the injuries were sustained by children and young adults under the age of 20. Guthrie County Public Health Director Jotham Arber warns to make sure children are not nearby when discharging fireworks, “Children a lot of times don’t have the same common sense yet as adults, so making sure that children are far away from fireworks when you’re discharging. And then also looking for those things like sparklers, a lot of people like the sparklers and they’re fun but you can cause serious burns to your hands and your kids’ hands. So using some common sense there, it may not be a good idea to give a three-year-old a sparkler.”

Arber also stresses the risk of smoke inhalation from sparklers and fireworks, warning that people should not set those off in garages or enclosed spaces. To hear from Arber on other summer health and safety topics, listen to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program on air and at raccoonvalleyradio.com.