Denver’s police and fire departments reported that fireworks citations and seizures dropped by nearly half this Fourth of July weekend, compared with last year.
Police issued 34 citations and made 123 fireworks confiscations this year, said Sonny Jackson, a spokesman for the Denver Police Department. That’s down from the 56 citations and 225 seizures last year.
“What we’ve seen in years past, a week before the Fourth, was a plethora of fireworks calls,” Jackson said. “We didn’t see that this year. Can you really afford to see your money go up in smoke during a recession?”
Even during the days leading up to the holiday — not just on the Fourth — Jackson said complaints and reports were down by about half.
Patrols of police and firefighters tasked with responding to fireworks calls began the night of July 1 in Denver and continued through the holiday weekend, Jackson said.
Authorities couldn’t peg the declines on a specific initiative or reason, but Jackson credited his agency’s continued fireworks-safety education and enforcement for playing a part, even though this year’s campaign was less extensive than in years past.
The department focused education this year on the harmful effects fireworks can have on animals, and it teamed with hospitals to talk about fireworks’ danger to the human body.
In all, city authorities rounded up more than 2,000 pounds of illegal fireworks this year, an amount Jackson said was lower than last year. Specific year-to-year figures weren’t available because the department hasn’t previously weighed the contraband, which is eventually destroyed.
Denver and most other municipalities in Colorado ban fireworks; those caught possessing fireworks face fines of up to $999 or six months in jail.
Capt. Hunter Hackbarth, spokesman for the Aurora Fire Department, said fireworks-related summonses were “definitely down” in the city, but his department was still compiling figures, which he expected to release at the end of the week.
“We don’t really know” why it was down, he said. “Our fires are down just due to the moisture. Things were green this year, unlike last year, when we were in a drier weather pattern.”
But he didn’t agree that soggier weather in June — the second-wettest June on record — correlated with this year’s decline in fireworks usage or encouraged complacency among residents previously fearful of igniting wildfires. Heavy thunderstorms rolled through the Denver area Saturday afternoon, which dampened opportunities to set off fireworks.
“When people set off fireworks, the thought of causing a fire doesn’t go through their minds,” Hackbarth said. “I think people are surprised when conditions are dry and it causes a fire.”
Daniel Petty: 303-954-1081 or dpetty@denverpost.com
