HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The 4th of July isn't the same without fireworks, but they can present plenty of dangers.
Huntsville police say on average, they get around 400 to 600 calls a day, but when it comes to the Fourth of July, they can get close to 900 calls in just 24 hours. Over half of those are fireworks calls.
Huntsville Police Department PIO Lt. Michael Johnson, said, "It is illegal to possess and use any type of fireworks within the city limits. There's a lot of confusion when people see these fireworks stands or stores that are actually situated on property that are not technically in the city limits but the city limit is around these properties."
Firefighters also have to be alert. Huntsville Fire Marshal Dan Wilkerson says they get about four times as many calls during 4th of July weekend.
"Our resources do get taxed during the Fourth of July time frame because we are responding to a lot of outside fires," said Wilkerson. "We've also had structure fires that are caused by consumer fireworks, and then also the injuries that we respond to on medical responses."
If you're in an area where it is legal to shoot fireworks, it's important to know just how dangerous they can be.
"It's alarming how many injuries from children are caused by sparklers every year," said Wilkerson. "A lot of people don't realize sparklers burn at 1200 degrees, which is very hot. Then we are giving them to our children to run around and play with."
If you do plan to use fireworks, don't shoot them around a large group of people, and keep a fire extinguisher nearby.
"A lot of our structure fires that we have come from bottle rockets either going on to somebody else's property or they get into a building where they are wedged between the wood surface of the building and they sit there and burn and cause the building to catch on fire," said Wilkerson.
There are events happening this weekend in the Tennessee Valley where you can safely watch fireworks.
MidCity and the Rocket City Trash Pandas will have family friendly events. For a full list, click here.
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