Fire Chief Stresses Fireworks Safety

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The Independence Day holiday is here, and with no community fireworks display in Ulysses this year, and expanded dates and hours for individuals to shoot off their store-bought fireworks, Grant County Fire Chief John Crosby wants people to practice safety while discharging and disposing of used fireworks.

The City of Ulysses began allowing fireworks to be discharged June 27, with expanded hours allowed to shoot fireworks on Friday, July 4.

As of July 1, the fire department had responded to three fireworks-related fires. That’s in addition to harvest-related blazes such as wheat field fires and a combine fire, as a well as a windmill fire started by lightning.

“The last several weeks we’ve been pretty dead and then the last three or four days we’ve had seven calls,” said fire chief John Crosby on Monday.

The danger with spent fireworks is they could still be still hot, and if they are not watered down, they can still start a fire, which happened June 29 on North Durham Street when a dumpster caught fire.

“They’d thrown their fireworks in the dumpster, of course they didn’t water them down of anything, they just threw them in there, and eventually they started a fire,” Crosby said. “That’s probably the main thing that we’re looking at now is 4th of July.”

The department responded to three fireworks-related fires last year and more than 20 in 2023 just in a 24-hour period. As of Tuesday, the department had already had three.

“I think this year’s gonna be fairly good because of the rain we’ve had, so everything’s pretty green,” Crosby said. “So, I look for this year to be kind of a low year, hopefully.”

The department is down a truck, which Crosby said on Tuesday will hopefully be up and running soon.

Tip for fireworks disposal:

•Make sure your pyrotechnics are waterlogged. This goes for used and unused fireworks. Duds, too, once you've determined they're safe to handle. Soak your ordinance in a bucket of water for at least 15 minutes. Some recommend up to 48 hours, but that's not necessary if they're wet throughout.

Once you're satisfied, drain any excess water into the toilet, and place your fireworks into a sealable plastic bag to maintain moisture. Feel free to double bag them, too. Finally, you can safely toss them into the garbage.