While the Fourth of July is typically filled with the sights and sounds of crackling fireworks, causing law enforcement headaches, the number of complaints about the colorful explosives around the holiday were down this year, local law enforcement said.
The Dickinson Police Department responded to 52 fireworks calls since June 23, Capt. David Wilkie said. He said during the same period last year, the police department took more than 70 calls.
Wilkie said he expected the numbers to be even lower than 52, maybe in the 20s or 30s. He said he did not hear as many people setting off fireworks in his neighborhood as in previous years.
"I think people were less tolerant this year due to the burn ban and everything else," he said.
Most of the fireworks complaints came on the Fourth, Wilkie said.
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Dickinson police wrote one citation for fireworks use in the city this year to a 37-year-old Dickinson man who was firing them near the corner of Second Street Southwest and Third Avenue on Tuesday evening. An officer was driving around the neighborhood and saw the man discharge the firework.
Fireworks calls were also down for the Stark County Sheriff's Office. The county media report for the Fourth had three fireworks calls listed for the holiday.
"I would say it's low for what transpired through this whole drought season right at the moment," said Maj. Fern Moser of the Stark County Sheriff's Office.
Moser estimated that the Sheriff's Office normally receives 10 to 20 calls around this time. He thinks this year's numbers were lower because people knew the dry conditions were not conducive for setting off fireworks.
"It also shows the people's due diligence on not setting them off and being concerned about the drought issues that we are going through," he said.
Wilkie also applauded the community for being cautious and aware of the situation during the holiday.
"I'm glad that we didn't have a lot of fireworks calls because that would really up the chance of something starting on fire," he said. "We just don't need something to start on fire when it's this dry."
