Flaming Litter

Similar to released balloons, sky lanterns all return to earth as litter. They are often marketed as “biodegradable” or “earth- friendly,” both untrue. Sky lanterns are made with treated paper, wires and/or a bamboo ring. They can travel for miles and always land as dangerous litter. Sky lanterns have caused huge structure fires and wildfires. This flaming aerial trash has caused serious burns to humans and killed animals who eat them or become entangled in their fallen remains.

Entire countries have banned the use of sky lanterns, including Argentine, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Spain, Germany and parts of Canada. In the USA, bans include Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Other states, including Kansas and Missouri and the New York Division of Fire Prevention and Control, are also looking into adopting changes to fire codes to regulate the use of sky lanterns.

The FAA has raised concerns over the use of floating lanterns as they can be sucked into aircraft engines.

Wildfire Today – Sky Lantern Fires

Sky lantern starts wildfire in Colorado

Wildfire Today – March 14, 2106

There is a report that a sky lantern started a wildfire in Colorado on Saturday, March 12. A writer on Pinecam.com said that between 11:00 and 11:45 p.m. one of three of the devices that were released landed in vegetation and started a small brush fire. It occurred near Pine Grove, which is another name for Pine, Colorado.

People cited for using fire balloon that may have started wildfire

Wildfire Today – July 15, 2015

A fire balloon is the suspected cause of a wildfire that started just before midnight Tuesday night on Y-Mountain near Provo, Utah. These dangerous devices that use a small flaming object to inflate and loft a plastic or paper balloon are also called sky lanterns and Chinese lanterns.

Sky lanterns ignite cell phone tower

Wildfire Today – May 8, 2015

“What could possibly go wrong when dozens of sky lanterns or fire balloons were released from the Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, North Carolina last weekend? The wind blew some of them into a cell phone tower, igniting it just out of range of the water cannon on the Union Road Volunteer Fire Department’s fire engine.”

‘Chinese Lanterns’ Report for Defra by WFU

The Women’s Food and Farming Union – 2011

“The results were staggering, all over the country farmers had discovered them in their fields; loss of livestock, horses, and cattle was reported as well as fires and machinery damage. Worries about the metal being cut into small needles and then incorporated into hay or silage were uppermost in many farmers’ thoughts and so the WFU undertook to provide enough evidence to obtain a total ban on their use throughout the UK.”

Fire marshals want to ban sky lanterns

USA Today – November 2013

“The U.S. fire marshals association adopted a resolution urging states to ban the sale and use of sky lanterns. … Sullivan said fire officials want a law “primarily for the fact that when you light these and send them off, it is an open fire you’re sending off.” He added, “When these things come down, are these people going to clean up the mess they leave behind?”

National Association of State Fire Marshals Recommend Ban on Sky Lanterns

FireMarshals.org – March 2013

“Resolution of the national association of state fire marshals on the fire hazard posed by sky lanterns and recommendation to impose state-level bans on their sale and use”

Colorado Springs Fire Department

Division of the Fire Marshal – May 2013

“These devices have been known to travel great distances from the point of release which poses a serious fire and safety hazard due to the potential of starting unintended fires in populated or unpopulated areas. … The uses of sky lanterns or related devices are a violation of the Colorado Springs Fire Code and thus are not permitted to be used

within Colorado Springs city limits.”

Smethwick Fire: Massive Blaze At Recycling Plant

Sky News – July 2013

“A blaze at a plastic recycling factory, described by firefighters as one of the biggest ever seen in the West Midlands, is believed to have been started by a single Chinese lantern.”

Fire sheds light on illegal Chinese lanterns

Post Bulletin – July 2013

“The fire damaged the rubber membrane of the roof, which was smoldering when firefighters arrived about 9:20 p.m., Mueller said. Department personnel recovered the lanterns from the roof; several others were found nearby, he said.”

Boy burned by Chinese lantern in Wrexham

Daily Post UK – November 2010

“…screamed in agony when scalding hot wax poured over his face at a Bonfire Night party…from a lantern set off into the night sky.”

Mother calls for Chinese lantern ban after son, three, is burned by molten wax on bonfire night

Mail Online – November 2010

“His eyes are not thought to be damaged but doctors are to examine him again later this week to assess whether he will be permanently scarred. Calling for a ban on the lanterns, Cael’s mother said: ‘I want people to realise how dangerous they are.’ “

Sky lantern destroys house in Berkhout Netherlands on New Year’s Eve

Noordhollands Dagblad – February 2015

“…on New Year’s Day we see hanging remnants of a wish balloon in the tree. My brother… saw half an hour before the fire alarm… some wish balloons from Berkhout float this way. …The burned-bell, which dates from 1870, was in excellent condition… a big loss for the Farm Foundation”

Thai authorities threaten sky lantern fans with death penalty

The Guardian – November 2014

“Some airlines have cancelled flights and others have changed their schedules during the festival. Bangkok has deployed 2,000 police on to the streets and set up checkpoints, with parts of the city banning the sale of fireworks and lanterns, according to the Bangkok Post.”

Plea to ban flying Chinese lanterns as cows are killed by them

“Three Guernsey cows suffered agonizing deaths from eating wire from sky lanterns. The flying lanterns float into fields & get chopped up with crops for animal feed. It means the feed contains 2in strips of wire which cause internal bleeding in cows.”

Sky Lantern Dangers

Boy Scouts of America

“Upon review, the release of a sky lantern also has been determined to conflict with fundamental Scouting safety principles that relate to fire management, in particular the Firem’n Chit certification and Unit Fireguard Chart, both of which require fires to be attended at all times.”

Calls to ban ‘dangerous’ Chinese lanterns

Horse & Hound – July 2013

“A terrible fire in the West Midlands caused by a Chinese lantern has prompted further demands from the British Horse Society and County Land and Business Association for them to be banned.”

New York State Fire Prevention & Control

OFPC Safety Alert – May 2012

“The Office of Fire Prevention and Control holds the opinion that sky lanterns meet the definition of Recreational Fires, as defined in Section 302.1 of the Fire Code and consequently, these devices require constant attendance as required in Section 307.5 of the Fire Code.”

Sky Lanterns Illegal in Maine

Maine State Fire Marshal – 2015

“These lanterns are often used for weddings or memorials. However, they blow wherever the wind takes them and can cause fires if they land on something that is combustible. Maine law does not allow the use, sale or possession of sky lanterns in the state.”

N.H. bill would ban sale of sky lanterns as fire hazard

Associated Press – November 2013

“The National Association of State Fire Marshals calls them uncontrolled fire hazards, because the wind decides where to deposit the lanterns, said association president and New Hampshire Fire Marshal Bill Degnan.”

Releasing of Sky Lanterns prohibited by NH State Fire Code

New Hampshire – Department of Safety – December 2012

“Due to the increase, Degnan’s Office has seen more incidents where these devices have caused fires in the state.”

Sky Lanterns – Fire Danger Falling From the Sky

Moraga-Orinda Fire District, California – July 2013

“The Moraga-Orinda Fire District prohibits the use of sky lanterns. Persons who use sky lanterns with a resulting fire may be held financially liable for all fire suppression costs in addition to property damage or medical costs from injuries resulting from the fire.”

Flintshire councillors seek Chinese lantern ban

Daily Post UK – September 2011

“A grandfather is joining calls for Chinese lanterns to be banned after his grandson was almost burned alive by one. …She was quite far away and ran over just in time to pull the lantern off her son’s tent where it had landed while still aflame”

Family recovers from crash likely caused by fallen sky lantern

MLive.com – August 2012

“She hit the brakes, swerved, went off the road and crashed into a tree. …serious facial and internal injuries and required several surgeries. …”

Farmer calls for ban on lanterns after cow dies in agony

Newmarket Journal – June 2013

“The metal frame became entangled around her lungs and slowly infected her internal organs. After developing gangrene, which left her in excruciating pain and threatened both her life and that of her premature, unborn calf, she hurriedly gave birth knowing that she was just days from death.”

Boy’s mother gives warning about Chinese lantern burns

The Northern Echo – August 2010

“A schoolboy could be scarred for life after a Chinese lantern fell on his face.”

Sky lanterns (Chinese paper lanterns) not environmentally-friendly

BBC News – October 2011

“An owl has been found dead apparently after becoming tangled up in a Chinese lantern at a Gloucestershire farm.”

Selah man started wildfire with luminaria

The Seattle Times – July 2013

“Selah police say a man started a 500-acre wildfire by launching a floating luminaria. The bag heated by a candle drifted into a hillside Friday and started a brush fire that took 100 firefighters to extinguish.”

Chinese sky lantern blamed for Trowbridge house fire

BBC News – July 2011

“I don’t want to feel like a spoilsport, but I don’t know how you can set them off safely given the potential they have to cause fires..”

Myrtle Beach fire caused by “Sky Lantern”

South Carolina Radio Network – July 2011

“The South Carolina Forestry Commission says a fire that burned more than 800 acres of Horry County land was caused by a special type of floating candle lantern. The July 3 fire is completely contained, but continues to burn along the coast in Horry County.”

Interpretation on Sky Lanterns

South Carolina State Fire Marshal Policy – February 2012

“There is a serious fire and safety hazard associated with sky lanterns, which includes the potential to start an unintended fire on or off the property from which they are released. The OSFM official interpretation bans the use of these devices in South Carolina, unless anchored or tethered.”

Farmer wins compensation after Red Nose Day balloon kills cow

The Telegraph – May 2011

“Farming and conservation groups are demanding a ban on mass releases of balloons and Chinese lanterns because of the deadly threat they pose to livestock and other wildlife…The fine wire inside it had punctured her esophagus. So she’d in effect spent a long, painful 48 hours suffocating on her own feed.”

‘Lanterns can be killers’ warning

Staffordshire Newsletter – March 2011

“The county council’s animal health team has received several calls about livestock eating the wire parts. This can cause a slow and painful death.”

Sky Lanterns Banned

Times of Malta – December 2009

“In a statement the authority said that the sky lanterns, also known as wish lanterns, were deemed unsafe and posed a serious risk to consumers.”

Farmer calls for ban after ‘killer’ Chinese lantern fells another cow

Mail Online – December 2009

“Farmers yesterday warned that they can be deadly for livestock after a prize cow died after eating the wire and paper remnants from one. They also claimed the lanterns – basically a candle inside a paper globe – pose a fire risk if they land in a field of crops or on a thatched roof.”

Vancouver lantern festival lights up the night, leaves litter in the day

Global News – February 2014

“…spent more than an hour cleaning up the lanterns, but couldn’t reach dozens of them that were stuck high up in the trees…”

Austria Wishing Lantern Regulation

Regulation of the Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection

The Philippines Bureau of Fire Protection Reminds the Public on Sky Lanterns Ban

Barako Newsline – December 2013

“Sky lanterns are considered as open burning. It should be manned and controlled.”

California State Fire Marshal Information Bulletin: Sky Lanterns

California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection – June 2012

“There is a serious fire and safety hazard associated with sky lanterns, which includes the potential to start an unintended fire on or off the property from which they are released.”

Connecticut State Fire Marshal

February 2013

Connecticut prohibits the sales, possession and use of sky lanterns, defining them as fireworks.

Health officials in Costa Rica to ban sky lanterns

The Tico Times – November 2015

“The fire, reported just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, completely destroyed two houses and damaged others”