Fire Department offers important Fourth of July reminders

With a three-day Fourth of July holiday weekend and some predicted warm, dry summer nights, you can be fairly certain there will be more fireworks than usual during this exciting summer weekend.

Most areas allow cylindrical or cone fountains, sparklers, toy smoke devices, snakes and glow worms.

Holland also said shooting fireworks under the influence of drugs or alcohol can be potentially unsafe because people are less careful than they would normally be.

In fact, injuries due to fireworks skyrocket this time of year, with thousands of people nationwide winding up in the emergency room on or around the holiday.

Novelty items such as sparklers, snakes, party poppers, glow worms and others with no more than 0.25 grains of explosive mixture do not require a permit and can be purchased in many stores throughout the state.

“Making sure that you’re not lighting them out directly in your hand”.

Fireworks sales at licensed seasonal retailers are legal in Missouri from June 20 to July 10.

“Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers”, said Tony Drzewiecki, public information officer for the Michigan City Fire Department.

Sparklers may seem innocent, Chartier explained, but they can burn at 1,200 degrees, hotter than a piece of wood catching fire in a fireplace.

– Always have a bucket of water and charged water hose nearby.

If letting professionals handle the fireworks isn’t in the cards, Howerter advises that only one person at a time should be lighting fireworks during neighborhood shows. Only adults should light fireworks, and they should wear safety goggles.

Never try to re-light fireworks that malfunction.

Never relight a “dud” firework.

“We’ve made a decision at this point not to issue a burn ban or a fireworks ban, but we are monitoring the situation very closely and it’s a day-to-day assessment”.

Make sure fireworks are legal in your locality before buying them. After fireworks have finished burning, pour water over the area to prevent any sort of fire.