Ocean City First Responders Give Summary Of Fourth of July Weekend

OCEAN CITY, Md. – While celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States were underway, Ocean City Fire Department, Police Department, and EMS were busy making sure the festivities were executed safely.

OCFD’s public information officer Ryan Whittington stated that the fire department and EMS responded to around 226 calls for service. Of those calls, 19 were heat-related incidents. Others, were more common reports.

“We of course had our normal water rescues, vehicle crashes, and other things that we typically run into over the course of our busy summer days.” Said Whittington.

Another main category of calls were incidents involving fireworks. The Ocean City Fire and Police Department reported approximately 137 firework related calls for service over the holiday weekend.

“The good news is, with that, we can report that we had no firework related injuries.” Said Whittington. “I really think that’s a testament to the proactive work of our fire marshals through inspections, site security, and even some of the public education that we do.”

Along with fireworks, another main concern was the extreme heat. Through a partnership with the public works department, there was messaging giving heat and firework safety to visitors as they entered the municipal limits.

Along with the safety tips, there were also cooling centers that were opened with the help of the emergency management department.

“At the cooling center, we saw nearly 40 people, administered some bottles of water.” Said Whittington. “Folks came in as they were hot from the beach in different areas to cool down, and we saw that really worked and that helped us out.”

Despite a jam packed weekend for first responders, it was overall said to be a safe one.

“Overall, we had a very busy but successful July 4th weekend.” Said Whittington.