Chicago police seize $20,000 in fireworks from basement - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Chicago police seize $20,000 in fireworks from basement

The man who shut the front door at the home listed for 49-year-old Aaron Torres had nothing to say but police said plenty. They seized $20,000 worth of fireworks from Torres' unassuming house on the 900 block of West 34th Place.

"This particular encounter came as the result of a tip. The officers conducted their investigation and encountered the individual that was cited," said Chicago Police Commander David Jarmusz.

Torres was apparently preparing to set up an illegal fireworks shop from a basement bedroom in his home -- selling and distributing everything from firecrackers, 30-shot mortars and skyrockets.

"I'm sure that any one of these boxes, as the explosives go off or the rockets go off, aimed in the wrong direction, they're going to come down somewhere," said Jarmusz.

Police say often illegal fireworks attract children and lead to danger.

During a demonstration the Chicago Fire Department showed just how quick something can go wrong - leading to young ones being rushed to hospitals, spending the holiday in emergency rooms.

On the Friday before the Fourth of July, the Chicago Fire Department warns that all fireworks are illegal.

"Fireworks of just every kind are illegal - private possession and use in the city of Chicago… We are urging people to leave fireworks to the professionals as we always do each year," said Commissioner Jose Santiago with the Chicago Fire Department.