Troy Police seize trailer full of illegal fireworks from Orchard Court
More than three tons of fireworks confiscated
By Charles Bolinger
Editor • Troy Police hauled away a 24-foot trailer packed with fireworks from a house in the 300 block of Orchard Court last month.
According to court documents, police confiscated the trailer and other fireworks in the house’s garage — more than three tons in total — at an address for Jason and Rachel Ellis.
The Illinois Explosives Act requires that 1,001 pounds or more of consumer-grade fireworks be stored in an Illinois Department of Natural Resources-certified (IDNR) magazine that is 230 feet from an inhabited building. The Ellises’ trailer was parked within five feet of their home, per an affidavit from the Troy Police.
Police, acting on a tip from a neighbor, and potentially avoiding a repeat of an incident involving fireworks that ignited and killed three youths at a rented home south of Troy on West Kirsch Road late on April 5 and overnight into April 6.
On June 24, a Madison County judge ruled that Troy Police had probable cause to think the trailer could be subject to forfeiture due to its contents.
Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas Haine filed documents on behalf of Troy Police to get the forfeiture process rolling. As of July 1, the investigation is ongoing and no one has been criminally charged, per Troy Police Lt. James E. Newcombe.
According to a four-page police department affidavit, a 2022 Interstate West enclosed trailer was registered to Jason and Water Doctors of Greater St. Louis, a franchise of Delaware-based Water Doctors International, a company that specializes in fixing wind and water leaks in vehicles.
Most of the confiscated fireworks were consumer, not professional grade. The latter is the type usually used in municipal firework shows but that does not make consumer grade fireworks any less dangerous. Consumer grade fireworks are illegal to possess in Illinois, unless one has special permits.
Jeremy Bradford, a detective with the Troy Police, composed the affidavit on June 17 to support confiscating the trailer. Bradford added that he checked with Nick Sterling, a blasting specialist with the Illinois Department of National Resources (IDNR) and discovered that neither Jason nor Rachel Ellis have pyrotechnic operator licenses. A reporter contacted Rachel Ellis at an email address found for her on June 30 but received no response.
Bradford furnished a written notice of seizure for forfeiture to the couple, which included information regarding a judicial preliminary review late last month at the Madison County Criminal Justice Center in Edwardsville.
In the affidavit, Bradford noted that the investigation started the Friday before Memorial Day, after a neighbor called Troy Police and spoke to Bradford. The neighbor conveyed their concerns about the Ellises storing the pyrotechnics in a trailer in their driveway. The same neighbor alleged that for the past four years, the Ellises bought mass quantities of fireworks and had them delivered to their home by semi-tractor. Following the deliveries, Jason Ellis would then pull a large, enclosed trailer onto their property, complete with a roof-mounted air-conditioner for cold storage.
The neighbor also told Bradford that the Ellises sold fireworks to others in the neighborhood and multiple vehicles per day would stop to buy pyrotechnics. Annually, the Ellis Family hosted neighborhood pyrotechnic displays that the neighbor claimed grew larger year-by-year and previously damaged some of her property.
The neighbor said on May 20, she observed a semi-truck and trailer parked in front of the Ellises’ home and saw the truck driver speak to a juvenile female. However, no delivery was made.
Two days later, a similar truck returned and the same delivery driver removed four pallets, about 60 inches tall each, wrapped in black plastic. The neighbor said the driver placed the pallets in the house’s attached garage. The neighbor said in 2025 and earlier, the pallets had been wrapped in material labeled as fireworks.
The neighbor continued, telling Det. Bradford that later on the same day the Ellis Family, including their children, formed a human chain and unloaded the four pallets by hand, transferring the pyrotechnics from the pallets to the trailer.
The neighbor said Jason Ellis usually started selling fireworks from the trail on or around June 20 each year. She said she knew when he would be ready to sell because he would place a set of stairs by the trailer’s side entry door.
Bradford wrote that he contacted a trucking terminal manager, Justin Buckley of R&L Carriers. Bradford asked about the Orchard Court address. Buckley confirmed that the delivery was to 353 Orchard Court in Troy and Buckley sent a copy of the bill of lading to Bradford.
According to the bill of lading, 98 cartons of fireworks arrived from American Eagle Fireworks in Lansing, Michigan, to 353 Orchard Court. The cartons were addressed to “Big E Fireworks, Attn: Rachel Ellis.”
On June 11, Bradford brought his case to the Madison County Criminal Justice Center in Edwardsville. After Associate Judge Emily Nielsen reviewed the facts, she approved a search warrant that same day. The warrant covered a single-family, split-level house, including any outbuildings and a gray, enclosed trailer. Bradford’s affidavit laid out the next steps:
- Bradford went to the Ellis home around 9:50 a.m. on June 12 to execute said search warrant
- Assisting Bradford were the Illinois Secretary of State Police bomb squad technicians, a FBI special agent bomb tech and a blast specialist from IDNR
- They seized 6,040 pounds of fireworks, including 2,880 pounds from the garage and 3,160 pounds from the trailer
- The trailer housed shelving systems with ‘organized displays of fireworks with price tags affixed to the shelves, like a retail store setting’
The secretary of state’s bomb squad took possession of the pyrotechnics and later transported them to a secure bunker.
“From my training and experience, possessing 6,040 pounds of consumer grade fireworks is in violation of the Pyrotechnic Use Act and the Illinois Explosives Act,” Bradford’s affidavit concluded.
This incident follows another one three months earlier, when Colton K. Cissell ignited fireworks in the garage of a rented home, causing an explosion and fire that killed his step-sister, her boyfriend and Cissell’s half-sister, all of whom were between 12 and 19 years old. Cissell’s parents escaped with minor injuries.
The resulting fire and explosion triggered a mass-casualty response involving multiple agencies – Troy Fire Protection, Troy Police, the FBI, ATF, Bomb Squad, Illinois Fire Marshal, Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Madison County Coroner all had representatives at the scene.
In late April, Robert Maxeiner, father of 18-year-old Madeleine Maxeiner, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in excess of $50,000 in Madison County Circuit Court.
On May 30, Madison County State’s Attorney, Thomas Haine, announced charges against Colton K. Cissell and his parents, Ken and Roberta. Colton was charged with:
- One count of unlawful possession/storage/transfer of explosive material with intent to commit another offense (class 1 felony)
- Two counts of involuntary manslaughter involving family members (class 2 felony)
- One count of involuntary manslaughter (class 3 felony)
- One count of child endangerment (class 3 felony)
- One count of unlawful possession/storage/transfer of explosive material (class 3 felony)
Cissell pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing on June 5, along with a demand for a speedy trial. That case will go to a jury trial on July 13 at 1 p.m. in Room 314 of the Madison County Criminal Justice Center, 509 Ramey Street in Edwardsville before Judge Neil Schroeder.
