A recommendation has been presented to Wichita city council members to continue the city’s current ordinance on fireworks, and fire officials will be looking for ways to improve enforcement and reduce injuries in 2021.

Fire chief Tammy Snow delivered a report to the council on the July, 2020 fireworks activities.   She said there were 63 fireworks-related calls during the July 4th holiday period, with a total of $109,000 in structural losses from fires.   There were seven structure fires, 16 dumpster fires and a number of grass and brush fires.

There were 46 injuries reported to medical facilities, compared to 51 in 2019 and in 2018.

On July 3rd and 4th, there were seven teams of police officers and firefighters who concentrated on trouble spots around the city.  Another two teams responded to specific complaints from citizens.  The teams wrote a total of 75 citations, compared to 59 in 2019 and 138 in 2018.    The enhanced enforcement efforts cost an estimated $28, 603, which were covered by revenue from fireworks sales permits, which brought in a total of $42,000.

Snow said there were 1,013 complaints to a special fireworks hotline that was operating from July 1st through the 5th.  That compared with 1,142 complaints in 2019 and 1,437 in 2018.

Snow is recommending staying with the current ordinance and she said the fire department will continue to look for ways to improve enforcement efforts.  She said the department will also focus on public service announcements with safety information to prevent fireworks-related injuries.    She said illegal fireworks continue to be a problem, but complaints have been going down since the city’s fireworks ordinance was changed in 2018.   She said that indicates that education and enforcement efforts are having an impact.