Return to Cinder: Sky Lanterns and Safety

Last night, on the 4th of July, I found a giant pink snake in the road in front of my house. It was the size and diameter of a small child. It had a hole in its side that looked like it had been made by a fireball.

Upon closer inspection, the pink snake was not a pink snake at all, but a giant paper lantern that had come to rest in front of my house, after presumably concluding its fiery journey across the night sky. It was one of dozens in a fiery flock during last night's Independence Day celebrations. It didn't land on my roof and leave my house a smoking ruin, so all's well that ends well. But the proximity of the lantern husk to my house brought a health and well-being issue into sharp, personal focus: the 4th of July in America can be a stressful, dangerous time.

Dogs go off the rails. Combat veterans stay inside. Your neighbors explode munitions along a spectrum of responsibility and legality. People fire guns at the sky, with little concern over the destination of the bullets. And an armada of small fires descends from the sky, with no regard.

Fire in the Sky

Two years ago, a fire at the Jayplas Recycling Plant in Smethwick, England, caused about $9M in damage, hospitalized 3 firefighters, and terrified the surrounding community. The fire was started by a "sky lantern," of the sort I found outside my house last night.

The Cobb family, of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, nearly lost their house to a sky lantern fire in 2011. Luckily, a neighbor called the fire department while the family slept.   

Last year, in Kentwood, Michigan, a sky lantern fire almost burned down a small business. The business escaped with $10,000 in damage instead.

Sky lanterns often land in yards and other private property, where they generally lay without incident until someone cleans them up. But when there are incidents, they tend to be serious. Debbie Hyatt, a Michigan Center woman, can tell you all about how serious.

Hyatt was was rounding a curve in her car a few 4ths ago when she saw a huge grounded lantern in the road. It seems to be the same make as the pink snake outside my house. Hyatt swerved to avoid the lantern, thinking it was a couch. She smashed her car into a tree. Her daughter's jaw was broken in three places. Hyatt severely injured her ankle, and their car was totaled.

Pick of the Litter 
Fire hazard aside, critics of the lanterns have lambasted them for the litter they leave behind. While the paper might be merely unsightly, the wire lanterns' wire frames are more substantial, becoming choking hazards for animals.

Wish Lanterns, of Dallas, TX, is sensitive to the concerns about its products. The company has replaced the wire parts of its lanterns with bamboo, and claim their product is 100% biodegradable. They claim the design is such that only a lantern expended of its fuel and no longer aflame will actually descend. 

Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire—and Make Sure It Doesn't Take Off

Despite changes in manufacture, sky lanterns are gaining some serious opposition. No one denies that they're beautiful, but groups concerned with safety and liability are saying "no" to the lanterns. The Boy Scouts have decided to stop using them.

Many farmers in Britain and the United States are campaigning for a ban on sky lanterns as well.

US fire marshals aren't thrilled about sky lanterns; many are calling for a ban on them. They're already banned in 24 states, and some municipalities. Not mine, obviously.

Anti-balloon site balloonsblow.org has a special section devoted to sky lanterns, and a link has been making its way around Facebook this season. This is doubtlessly increasing awareness this season.

Return to Cinder
Sky lanterns are beautiful. Last night, I was glad to see them glowing against the late blue sky, despite the dangers. Today, there were no reports of lantern-caused fire in my city. But there's a big pink reminder outside my window that hazards like this are always abstract, until they land close to home. It will be interesting to see how our culture balances these issues in the years to come.