As Americans prepare for the nation’s 250th anniversary, a new study reveals Ohio has the highest risk of backyard fireworks accidents, property damage and related injuries in the country.
The analysis, conducted by sports betting site The Action Network and reported by ABC 6, examined fireworks trade shipment data, real-time consumer search behavior and state laws across the country to rank the risk of amateur pyrotechnics by state.
According to the findings, an active fireworks participant in Ohio faces a 3.54 percent chance of a holiday mishap or property flare-up, which translates to a 1-in-28 chance. Researchers attributed the high risk to the state’s massive shipment volume — amounting to $3.50 per person — and a high consumer interest score.
“Because full aerial cakes and reloadable mortar shells are legal, large multi-family block parties in the Buckeye State carry the highest statistical chance of a backyard mishap or property flare-up in the nation,” the study states.
The Midwest registered the highest concentration of high-risk states, with Indiana, Missouri and Kansas joining Ohio in the top five.
Indiana ranked second with a 1-in-34 chance of an accident. The state imports $3.89 per capita in fireworks and serves as a primary “border-hopping” pipeline for residents traveling from neighboring Illinois, where aerial fireworks are legally banned.
Missouri ranked third with a 1-in-36 chance. The study found that Missouri functions as the corporate distribution capital of the fireworks industry, clearing $85.7 million in direct imports, or $13.84 per person.
New Hampshire and Kansas rounded out the top five highest-risk states, with a 1-in-39 and 1-in-40 chance of accidents, respectively.
By contrast, Massachusetts was identified as the state with the lowest overall fireworks risk, carrying a 0.02 percent — or 1-in-5,000 — chance of a mishap. The study credited this low rate to the state’s strict and actively enforced consumer fireworks bans.
Though federal data indicates between 13,004 and 14,700 emergency room visits across the United States each year, the study shows that epidemiologists estimate the actual number of minor, home-treated burns and localized property fires is four to 10 times higher than official hospital records show.
According to the report, Americans consume 322.4 million pounds of fireworks every year.
