photo by: Nikki Wentling

In this file photo from 2016, fireworks confiscated by Lawrence police are pictured in a dumpster behind the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical training center off Haskell Avenue.

On the Fourth of July and the days leading up to the recent holiday, Lawrence police took more than 100 calls regarding fireworks, but issued no citations this year, according to numbers provided to the Journal-World by police and the municipal court.

Although it’s possible not all tickets have been turned in yet, as of Thursday, there were no fireworks citations in municipal court, according to the clerk’s office.

According to the Lawrence Police Department, officers responded to 79 fireworks calls on the Fourth and to 18 the day before, plus a few more calls in preceding days.

The city’s no-fireworks ordinance has traditionally been difficult to enforce, said Officer Derrick Smith, of the Lawrence Police Department.

When officers do catch people using fireworks, writing a ticket usually isn’t their first move.

“If resources are available an officer or two will be assigned to specifically look for offenders of the firework ordinance,” Smith said in an email. “In the past, the primary focus has been on education and confiscation of illegal fireworks.”

But often, officers don’t catch anyone, Smith said. Particularly when the day is busy with higher priority calls, fireworks calls are delayed until officers are available to handle them.

“When officers respond to the calls, a vast majority of the time the offenders are not observed committing the act or have left the scene,” Smith said.

Statewide, 133 people were injured by fireworks over the holiday week, from July 1 through July 7, according to a news release from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

The age range with the highest number of injuries was 5 to 17, followed closely by 18- to 44-year-olds, the KDHE said. Across all age groups, more than 63 percent of the fireworks injuries involved males.

According to the KDHE, seven fireworks injuries occurred in Douglas County.

Fireworks complaints

Lawrence police got the following number of calls for fireworks around the 2018 July Fourth holiday.

July 1 — 9

July 2 — 2

July 3 — 18

July 4 — 79

Source: Lawrence Police Department