Lone Star Lake and Wells Overlook Park could become ground zero for fireworks fanatics this Independence Day, as city dwellers displaced by a new pyrotechnics ban look for places to legally light their sparklers, firecrackers and airborne artillery-style shells.

“If you sell them in the county, you’ve got to let them use them in the county,” said Charles Jones, a Douglas County commissioner. “There’s no place else.”

People will be able to shoot fireworks in the county — and its two parks — from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 2 and 3, and from 7 a.m. to midnight July 4. Approved vendors may sell fireworks on those three days, also.

For the first time, Lawrence is outlawing possession and use of fireworks. Late last year, city commissioners voted to prohibit fireworks, citing concerns about personal safety, property damage, noise, litter and other problems.

Now county officials are worried such problems could blossom in rural areas.

Though it’s illegal to shoot fireworks on private property without permission — that’s trespassing — or to light fireworks on public roads, the county has no laws restricting use of fireworks in its parks.

“I can’t encourage it or discourage it,” said Craig Weinaug, county administrator. “If they do come out to the two county parks, people should be very, very careful — especially if the conditions are dry.”

Weinaug said he was worried that township fire departments would be ill-equipped to fight fires ignited by fireworks. Lone Star Lake is located in Marion Township, which contracts with Osage County for fire-protection services.

The nearest Osage fire station is 17 miles from the lake.

“I don’t know that there’s any way we can provide adequate fire protection,” Weinaug said.

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Chris Moore, chief of the Wakarusa Township Fire Department, said his four-employee, 26-volunteer operation would stand ready to respond to any emergency that might arise. Wells Overlook — just east of U.S. Highway 59, along the north side of North 1000 Road — is part of his coverage area.

Whether fireworks-induced mayhem might occur remains unclear.

“We’re not fortune tellers,” Moore said.

Wakarusa Township hasn’t responded to a fireworks-related call during the Independence Day holiday for at least five years, he said.

But “this is the first year (of Lawrence’s ban), so who knows?” Moore said. “We may not run a single call. We may run 30. …

“Hopefully we won’t see 700 people at Overlook Park. I think there will be quite a few more people in the county, but I don’t think everybody will be concentrated at these two parks. We’ll see more countywide.”

Gary Bartz, co-chairman of the Douglas County Fireworks Assn., expects Lawrence residents to visit friends outside Lawrence. But he won’t pass up an opportunity to make money off the controversy.

He plans to sell T-shirts that blast Lawrence’s fireworks ban. On the front: “4th of July Lawrence Lockdown”; on the back: “Come on Vacation, Leave on Probation.”

“Everybody knows somebody in the county,” said Bartz, a fireworks vendor. “Everybody knows somebody in Lecompton, Eudora or Baldwin. They’re just going to make their plans around it.”