Ocean City Fire Marshal speaks on Fireworks Safety

OCEAN CITY, Md. – With the 4th of July right around the corner – public safety agencies are urging residents to use caution while igniting fireworks.

Fireworks while beautiful, can also be extremely dangerous and cause serious injuries. Studies show that 66% of fireworks-related injuries in 2020 happened in the weeks before and after the July 4th holiday. nap pops and hand-help sparklers are the only fireworks legal in Ocean City… and those can still cause injury if you’re not careful, according to Ocean City Deputy Fire Marshall Allison Lecates.

“So, while people may think they are controlled, they are an uncontrollable explosive that we see… This time of year we see an uptick in fireworks, illegal fireworks going off on the beach in all the different communities. They are explosives and they do react very unpredictably… It’s very easy for a firework to go off and a bystander gets injuries by the way it goes off or, it could even go into a building, and we can potentially have a building fire occur.”

Bystander injuries and buildings catching on fire are not the only dangerous events that can occur. “They go to light it and they think they have ample time, and in a matter of seconds it goes off and we can see people lose fingers, hands, it’s very quick for something bad to happen.”

They do say that if you are caught with illegal fireworks or in the act of igniting them, you can face serious consequences like cash fines or even jail time. Ocean City will have fireworks show on July 4th. They are encouraging all residents to come out and enjoy the show. Lecates says if you are planning to light up the night this July 4th – leave it to the professionals instead.