With the New Year holiday fast approaching, Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin took time during Tuesday’s city council meeting to remind citizens shooting fireworks in the city limits is illegal.
“We ask you to please be mindful when celebrating, that the city has an ordinance against setting off fireworks within the city limits,” he said. “Not only is this very noisy for folks and their pets, it also can be dangerous to people who are using the fireworks and also to other people’s homes.”
Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Duane Hughes said the risk of fireworks, on the fire services side of things, is two-fold.
The most obvious being the fire risk.
“We quite often, this time of year, will respond to fire alarms and we’ll come in and someone has used incendiaries, using bottle rockets or roman candles, that landed on the roofs and they’ve ignited those,” Hughes said.
However, he said injury potential is just as prevalent.
“Other than the incendiary hazard, there’s the medical side of it,” Hughes added. “(This is caused by) improper use of the fireworks, holding them in your hand when you’re not supposed to, aiming the fireworks at other individuals. We’ve had instances with explosives going off in hands or people being hit in the face with explosives.”
Hughes said CFR typically receive multiple calls this time of year pertaining to incidents caused by fireworks.
“Normally, around New Year’s, you’re going to average anywhere from three to five calls with injuries resulting from fireworks,” he said.
“Now the fire calls, you could have as few as two and as many as 12. It just depends on where they’re using them. The weather also plays a factor in that.”
Columbus Police Department also has a hand in the fireworks response. Specifically, the department enforces the ordinance.
“If they’re caught they can be cited and/or have the fireworks taken away,” Capt. Anthony Nelson told The Dispatch. “We’ll have units out patrolling each night, and if they have any complaints about fireworks or excess noise, then we will send units over to try and eradicate the situation.”
According to the city’s municipal code, the “use of pyrotechnics without a permit,” carries a $350 fine.
Gaskin said his office is already receiving calls about fireworks.
“We have a lot of people calling already, concerned about it,” he said. “So, we ask that you refrain from doing that inside the city limits and officers will be out searching for folks during that time, making sure people are complying.”
Officials also noted shooting fireworks are not illegal in Lowndes County outside city limits.
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