Police seize trailer full of fireworks outside metro-east couple’s home
A Madison County judge ruled Thursday that police had probable cause to believe that a 24-foot trailer outside the home of a Troy couple was subject to forfeiture because it allegedly contained thousands of pounds of fireworks in violation of state law.
Troy police seized the trailer and other fireworks in the garage – more than 6,000 pounds total – at the home of Jason and Rachel Ellis on Orchard Court earlier this month, according to court documents.
“This isn’t a pack of sparklers,” Assistant Police Chief Andy Evans said Friday. “This is a massive amount of explosives that would have done terrible damage if there was an accident and this would have exploded. (There could have been) loss of life, without a doubt.”
Evans described it as a “similar scenario” to the circumstances that led to an Easter Sunday explosion and fire at a home off West Kirsch Road in rural Troy that left three young people dead.
In the Ellis case, the office of State’s Attorney Tom Haine filed documents on behalf of Troy police to begin the forfeiture process in Madison County Circuit Court ahead of Thursday’s hearing. No one has been criminally charged, court records show.
“This is still a pending investigation,” Evans said.
The trailer was registered to Jason Ellis and Water Doctors of Greater St. Louis, a franchise of Delaware-based Water Doctors International, which specializes in repairing automotive wind noises and water leaks.
Ellis didn’t respond to phone or email requests for comment Friday.
Evans said the vast majority of the fireworks were consumer grade, as opposed to professional-grade fireworks used in municipal displays, but they are often just as massive and dangerous.
“They’re illegal to possess or sell in Illinois, except for people with special permitting,” he said.
Troy Detective Jeremy Bradford prepared a four-page affidavit in support of the trailer forfeiture. It stated that the police investigation began May 22, when a neighbor reported that large quantities of fireworks had been delivered to the Ellises by tractor-trailer every year for the last four years in advance of the Fourth of July holiday.
The neighbor told police that the Ellises stored the fireworks in their trailer in the driveway with an air conditioner on top, sold fireworks to others in the neighborhood and hosted giant displays that had damaged her gazebo and trampoline in the past.
“(The neighbor) expressed great concern for the safety of the neighborhood due to the recent tragic incident involving a residence that contained explosives,” the affidavit stated, referring to the fatal April 5 fire at the Cissell home off West Kirsch Road.
A shipment of nearly 100 cartons of fireworks from American Eagle Fireworks in Lansing, Michigan, was delivered this year to 353 Orchard Court, according to the affidavit. The cartons were addressed to “Big E Fireworks,” to the attention of Rachel Ellis.
Bradford reported that he checked with Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) officials and determined that neither of the Ellises had pyrotechnic operator licenses.
“Based upon the reported information and Bill of Lading, it is suspected that Jason and Rachel Ellis are in illegal possession of regulated explosives/fireworks and illegal storage,” the detective wrote.
The Illinois Explosives Act requires that 1,001 pounds or more of consumer-grade fireworks be stored in an IDNR-certified magazine that is 230 feet from an inhabited dwelling. The Ellises’ trailer was parked about 5 feet away from their home, according to the affidavit.
Associate Judge Emily Nielsen approved a search warrant June 11. Bradford’s affidavit described what happened next:
- Troy police went to the Ellis home about 9:50 a.m. June 12.
- They were assisted by Illinois Secretary of State Police bomb squad technicians, an FBI special agent bomb technician and an IDNR blast specialist.
- Officials seized 6,040 pounds of fireworks, including 2,880 pounds from the garage and 3,160 pounds from a gray enclosed trailer.
- The trailer contained shelving systems with “organized displays of fireworks, with price tags affixed to the shelves, like a retail store setting.”
“Secretary of State Bomb Squad took possession of the fireworks and later transported them to a secure bunker,” Bradford’s affidavit stated. “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.”
The April 5 explosion occurred at a home rented by Kenneth and Roberta Cissell at 8004 W. Kirsch Road. The resulting fire killed Madeleine I. Maxeiner, 18, of Troy, Roberta Cissell’s daughter; Maxeiner’s boyfriend, Ayden R. Hendrickson, 19, of Collinsville; and Colton Cissell’s half-sister, Paisley Nishwitz, 12, of Troy.
Kenneth Cissell’s son, Colton Cissell, 22, was injured in the fire. The state’s attorney’s office later charged him with six felonies, including involuntary manslaughter, for allegedly manufacturing and storing explosives without a license. He’s being held in the Madison County Jail.
The office also charged Kenneth and Roberta Cissell with endangering the life of a child, alleging they allowed Colton Cissell to manufacture explosive devices at the home.
Madeleine Maxeiner’s father, Robert Maxeiner, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Madison County against Roberta Cissell, his ex-wife; Kenneth Cissell and Colton Cissell; and their landlord.
The civil lawsuit alleges that the Cissells kept dangerous, federally regulated explosives at the house without required permits or licenses, stored them improperly and failed to maintain fire precautions, including working smoke detectors.
This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 5:15 PM.
