WELLINGTON, LET PROS SHOOT OFF FIREWORKS
Go ahead, call me a party pooper — I’m tired of people setting off fireworks in residential neighborhoods in Wellington.
I love the Fourth of July: the patriotism, the fellowship with friends and neighbors and, yes, the fireworks. But a professional, permitted fireworks display is a far cry from the people on the cul de sac blowing up mortars.
Shooting fireworks into the air is illegal without a permit, and good luck getting one of those if you’re not doing a fireworks display in association with a larger event.
Florida residents also are forced to lie to buy the kind of fireworks that could get you in trouble. When you go to a roadside vendor or a brick-and-mortar retailer to purchase explosives with catchy names such as Boom Shockalocka and Whistling Buster, you sign a paper saying you will use the fireworks to scare birds and other nuisance pests away from your fish hatchery. Seriously.
Read it the next time you buy something called Rolling Thunder.
To report fireworks in your neighborhood, you can call the Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office’s non-emergency number at 561-6883000. PBSO received 10 calls over the weekend to report fireworks, spokeswoman
Teri Barbera said. One call placed about 9 p.m. Saturday reported someone with fireworks at Brampton Cove Park in Greenview Shores. Another placed about 9 p.m. Sunday came from the Pinewood Grove neighborhood.
The fireworks must be witnessed by a deputy or no citation can be issued, Barbera said. Illegally using fireworks in Florida is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Deputies can confiscate fireworks, she said.
Igniting large fireworks in a residential area can be dangerous to people, pets and property. Nationwide, about 280 people go to the emergency room every day with fireworks-related injuries in the month around the Fourth of July, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Mayor Anne Gerwig has received calls over the years asking what do about fireworks in residential areas. One person was concerned his neighbors’ fireworks would set his cedar shake roof ablaze. “He would have his roof covered with this stuff,” Gerwig said.
His fears aren’t unwarranted. Fireworks on average cause half of all fires reported on the Fourth of July each year, the National Fire Protection Association said.
Last year, fireworks caused a large trash bin fire in Palm Springs and a brush fire in Palm Beach near the home of conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh.
Gerwig said someone also called her about fireworks affecting their family member, who is on the autism spectrum. Those with autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and dementia can have severe reactions to the sound of fireworks, research has shown.
Pets also can become anxious. Horses can be severely injured as the explosions cause them to bolt, prompting Wellington to put up signs around its Equestrian Preserve Area to remind residents that fireworks are illegal there.
“It needs to stop because it can cause problems,” Gerwig said. “... They should just participate in the public one (display) we’re doing together.”
Take in one of the local fireworks shows happening in the western communities. Wellington’s will begin at 9:15 p.m. at Village Park, 11700 Pierson Road, and Royal
Palm Beach’s begins at 9 p.m. at Commons Park, 11600 Poinciana Blvd.