City officials warn of fireworks misuse

With the annual Greencastle Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration just a week away, two city department heads have fired a shot across the proverbial bow, warning independent revelers about potential dangers of bottle rockets, cherry bombs and the like.

"We provide the July 4 fireworks in Robe-Ann Park late in the evening," Park Director Rod Weinschenk said of the annual program that will begin at dusk on Wednesday, July 4. "We would ask that nobody bring in or volunteer theirs from home."

Anyone discovered with fireworks at the city park will lose them, he said.

"If we find 'em, we're going to confiscate them," Weinschenk warned during his appearance at the podium during the City Council's June meeting at City Hall. "We're going to 'bucket' them ... throw them in a bucket of water."

In other words, destroying the fireworks for all intents and purposes.

"So please do not bring them (personal fireworks) to Robe-Ann Park before, during or after July 4," Weinschenk stressed.

Meanwhile, Greencastle Fire Chief John Burgess was likewise concerned about fireworks safety.

"A word of advice," Chief Burgess offered at the same City Council session. "Please be careful. Fireworks are dangerous."

Burgess said 238 people were reported injured by fireworks in Indiana during the holiday last year. And he doesn't want to see any of those statistics hit close to home.

"It's illegal for anyone under 18 to purchase or shoot off fireworks," the chief reminded the public.

City Council President Adam Cohen suggested the proper local alternative.

"You're better off to just go to Robe-Ann Park on July Fourth," Cohen said.

That's the same advice the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has issued, recommending that revelers refrain from using consumer fireworks and attend public fireworks displays put on by trained professionals.

Fireworks annually cause devastating burns, injuries, fires and even death, the NFPA said, suggesting fireworks are too dangerous to be used safely by consumers.

On Independence Day in a typical year, fireworks also account for nearly half of all reported U.S. fires, more than any other cause.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission 2017 Fireworks Annual Report, fireworks were involved in an estimated 11,100 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms.

An estimated 900 ER-treated injuries were associated with sparklers and 400 with bottle rockets. Sparklers were the most common type of fireworks causing injury to preschoolers, and 400 of the 900 sparkler injuries were related to children under five years old.

Young adults age 20 to 24 had the highest estimated rate of ER-treated, fireworks-related injuries in 2016, the report noted.