Why Local Fire Chiefs Think Ban on Sky Lanterns Is a Good Idea

—By Joe Vince

They might float through the air with the greatest of ease, but ease isn't a word local fire chiefs associate with the pyrotechnic devices known as sky lanterns.

The concern over sky lanterns—a concern that had the Office of the State Fire Marshal ban them across the state in May—deals with the lack of control users have keeping these lighted fuel cells, which are surrounded by a paper-type canister, airborne as they travel as far as a quarter- to a half-mile distance. Without a way to direct them, the devices, which also go by the names wishing lanterns and aerial luminaries, can land in a residential or forested area and create a fire hazard.

READ: Sky Lanterns Banned by the State

"The sky lanterns are designed to go up and kind of float just like a balloon with helium in it," said Dan Riordan, senior fire inspector for the Tinley Park Fire Department. Riordan, who is a member of the Illinois Fire Inspectors Association's fireworks committee, also participated in the fire marshal's meeting where the devices were banned. "Once that lifts like a balloon, you lose any control of that thing as a flame. … The fuel cell is just not going to go out. It's a little different than a match or a candle."

The ban makes the sale and use of sky lanterns within the state illegal. This flying pyrotechnic joins firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, pinwheels and others on Illinois' list of banned fireworks. Communities throughout the state might have narrower definitions and prohibit even more devices.

Although they've been around for a while, sky lanterns' popularity has risen in the past year or so as the devices have become part of celebrations and memorials by organizations that launch hundreds of them at once to create a display, said Chief Terry Lipinski of the Oak Forest Fire Department. 

Before the state ban, groups over the years have made requests to launch multiple lanterns in communities such as Orland Park, said Chief Ken Brucki of the Orland Fire Protection District. Those requests were denied because of the village's codes against unconfined fires and releasing open flames into the air, he added.

Tinley Park has received similar proposals, including one by an organization that wanted to launch sky lanterns from a village banquet facility during a dusk ceremony, Riordan said. And like Orland, the Village of Tinley Park also has said no because sky lanterns fall under the municipalities banned fireworks ordinance, he added.

"As much as these things … give a nice effect, people need to understand it's still fire, and you need to be in control of it," Riordan said.

That calm, peaceful effect—added to the fact that they don't explode or make a loud sound—lulls people into a false sense of security when it comes to these devices, Lipinski said. But a week before the state ban was approved, Oak Forest firefighters responded to a residential call concerning an errant sky lantern.

"We had one land on a house [recently], and the people thought the house was on fire, but it just scorched the roof," Lipinski said. "What if that had been a wood roof?"

As always during this time of year, fire officials caution residents to be safe when it comes to the fireworks allowed in their communities. And the best way to do that is by watching the professionals put on licensed and approved displays, Riordan said.