NW Illinois News

Leading up to Independence Day, Illinois state Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savannah) shared information about rules and things people should know about the holiday. McCombie, who was elected in 2016 to serve the constituents of the 71st District, took to Facebook on June 30 to address the public.

“As we approach the holiday weekend… some things to know!” said McCombie, who included a link to the Republican Caucus blog.

McCombie is a lifelong resident of Savanna, Ill., and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Western Illinois University. She owns and operates Blue Appraisals and is a real estate broker with Mel Foster Company. Her previous political experience includes time as the mayor of Savanna, Ill., and as a councilor on the Savanna City Council.

The blog post refers to the Pyrotechnic Use Act of 1942, which bans the sale, possession and use of consumer fireworks. This includes firecrackers, bottle rockets and Roman candles. Novelty fireworks like sparklers, trick noisemakers, smoke devices and trick matches are legal in the state.

According to Illinois Policy, there are three states that ban the use of fireworks or limit their use to novelty items like sparklers, and this includes Illinois. The outlet also noted that the use of fireworks reached record levels in 2022, but injuries from fireworks are down for three straight years.

WGN9 reported on that there have been attempts to make fireworks restrictions less strict, but attempts have been criticized and ultimately failed. The news station quoted the executive director of the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance from an article in the Center Square, which noted that after New York voted to loosen restrictions on fireworks in 2016, they sent the Illinois General Assembly a letter.

According to a report by the Journal Star, even if novelty items are allowed under state law, certain municipalities may have other rules in place to outlaw the use of all fireworks. This includes the city of Chicago, and their information about the fireworks ban can be found here. The Journal Star also published lists of fireworks that are not legal, as well as those that are. In Illinois most consumer fireworks are illegal, aside from items with less than 25 hundredths grains of explosive material. Legal items include “Party poppers”, sparklers, toy guns and pistols that use paper or plastic caps, trick matches, smoke devices, snake pellets, “Snappers”, “Auto burglar alarms”, “Booby traps”, “Cigarette loads” and “Glow worms pellets.”