WASHINGTON - By the time fireworks lit up the sky on the Fourth of July, the D.C. fire department had already been busy with another holiday tradition: confiscating illegal fireworks.
"We have retrieved hundreds of thousands of pieces of fireworks," says Pete Piringer, fire department spokesman. "A couple of days before the Fourth of July, a couple of days after."
Pringer says he doesn't have a definite number of how much they retrieved because they're still collecting fireworks.
On WTOP's Аск the Chief Program, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said her department made two arrests, issued 13 citations and collected nearly 20,000 illegal fireworks during the holiday weekend.
Piringer says the fire and police departments work closely weeks before the holiday to educate the public on fireworks safety.
Venders in the city are allowed to sell certain types of fireworks, as long as they stay within the lines of the law.
"We closed down a few illegal stands because they weren't licensed, and they had some illegal products for sale," Piringer says.
Lanier says illegal fireworks continues to be a major problem within the district.
"I'm amazed each year, with the type of illegal fireworks that get in here that more people aren't seriously injured," Lanier says.
All fireworks are illegal in Montgomery County. What the police confiscate is kept in the police evidence lab, or is destroyed.
The county's fire department says during the holiday weekend, there were no reports for fireworks related injuries. A spokesperson says what the fire department collects is used in demonstrations on fireworks safety.
In Fairfax County, a family turned in fireworks they found inside their new home. Other than that, they received zero calls of illegal fireworks usage.
In Prince George's County, the fire department confiscated about $200 dollars worth of illegal fireworks. Those will be disposed by the county's bomb squad.
The department relies on multiple resources to track down illegal fireworks.
"We rely on citizen generated complaints as well as fire and police observation," says Mark Brady, a fire department spokesperson.
The department says use of illegal fireworks has greatly reduced over the years, and it credits the level of information available to the public.
"Media plays a large role in helping us to keep everyone informed," Brady says.
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