Fireworks injuries jumped 52 percent in 2024, with about 14,700 emergency room visits and 11 deaths, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. One device is behind a disproportionate share of the damage: the reloadable mortar shell, which fires a shell from a launch tube. Mortar shells make up only about 14 percent of fireworks cases but more than half of hospitalizations. Several recent deaths involved teens holding lit mortars or leaning over the tube. Never look into a mortar tube and never hold one. There is a reason many states ban them entirely.
Mortar shells: The most dangerous fireworks
