Columbia burn surgeon warns about certain fireworks

People around the country celebrate the Fourth of July holiday with fireworks, but it’s easy to ignore the dangers of sparklers.

MU Hospital’s Dr. Jeff Litt is the burn and wound program director. He said although they seem harmless and fun, sparklers are actually more dangerous than they say on the box.

“They’re about 1,500 to 2,000 degrees depending on the size of the sparkler and how much phosphate is basically used in it,” he said. “So it takes basically milliseconds to get a third degree, requiring surgery type burn.”

Litt said over the Independence Day weekend, the hospital sees about a dozen or so more patients than usual, with burns that result from fireworks and other holiday accidents.

“Of the ‘busy’ season this may be the busiest,” he said. “There’s so many people playing with all sorts of things that can either set them on fire, set their clothes on fire, or explode on them, so we do see an upswing in our burn center census.”

Of those extra cases, Litt said sparkler-related injuries are the most common type.

A burn from a firework or sparkler can happen in a split second, but could require a rehabilitation process from surgery or skin grafting.

Litt said he urges people to leave the fireworks shows to the professionals, but for those who do want to light off fireworks or play with sparklers, he recommends keeping a bucket of water or a hose on hand in case of emergencies or to put out your sparkler.

Lighting fireworks within Columbia city limits is illegal and Columbia police have already responded to about 25 fireworks calls in the past two days.

If you would like to report a fireworks nuisance and it’s a non-emergency, you can call Joint Communication’s non-emergency number at (573) 442-6131.