Each year the Fourth of July holiday firework season comes with its share of injuries due to fireworks that explode or shoot uncontrollably causing severe burns, eye injuries and loss of fingers.
Each year there are 12,000 firework-related injuries nationally, and in Utah, the University of Utah Medical Center treats two or three fireworks-related injuries every day during the two week Fourth of July period, said Jason Burgess, University of Utah Medical Center spokesman.
According to the Utah Safety Council, firecrackers and bottle rockets are the most common illegal fireworks that cause firework-related injuries in Utah, but many firework injuries occur because people modify legal fireworks.
'Some of the illegal firework-related injuries occur because people modify legal fireworks to build explosive devices that are very dangerous,' said Scott Freitag, public information officer for the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
Modified fireworks can be especially dangerous because they are more unpredictable than factory-made illegal fireworks.
According to the Salt Lake County Fire Department, any firework that leaves the ground more than 10 feet, sprays sparks more than 10 feet or explodes is illegal.
The Utah Safety Council estimates that 40 percent of the firework-related injuries happen to people 15 years and under, and almost two-thirds of those injured are male.
Illegal fireworks can be purchased out of state and brought back over the border where they create havoc for local authorities.
'Illegal fireworks are an issue we deal with each year, and during the Fourth of July period we receive three or four calls each day for people who have injured themselves using illegal fireworks,' said Capt. Jay Ziolkowski of the Salt Lake County Fire Department.
'The average Joe is going up to Wyoming, and bringing illegal fireworks back with them.'
The Salt Lake County Fire Department is working closely this year with the Salt Lake Sheriff's Department to control the illegal fireworks problem.
'We'll be watching the sky and listening for explosions around the valley, so we can respond accordingly,' said Sgt. Dean Adams of the Salt Lake Sheriff's Department.
Authorities urge citizens to report individuals using illegal fireworks, but they warn citizens not to confront people using illegal fireworks.
'Don't take the law into your own hands,' Adams said.