Even small fireworks can be dangerous

You know the saying, "Play with fire and you'll get burned." Yet each Fourth of July, we light sparklers and load up bottle rockets.

Last year, 22 patients were treated at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, the nearest adult burn center to Charleston, for injuries sustained during July Fourth festivities.

Half of those injuries were directly related to fireworks. The rest were accidents involving campfires and barbecuing on gas and charcoal grills.

"We anticipate a few more this year," said Dr. Fred Mullins, president of Joseph M. Still Burn Centers Inc., which has clinics in Atlanta, Jackson, Miss., and Trident Medical Center in North Charleston.

Although fireworks except sparklers are illegal in the city of Charleston, the fire department normally sees a spike in firework-related fires, said Mark Ruppel, public information officer

More than two thirds of all fireworks-related injuries occur between June 16 and July 16, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And one out of three of those injuries happens to children under age 15.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.