NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Fire Marshal Mike Cain says that after changes last year, the regulations are the same this year as they were in 2023.
"The dates are June 30 through July 4," Cain said. "Shoot dates are the same. It was a pretty major change. We went back to basically everything, aerial fireworks, along with the old Safe and Sane. It's the same throughout the county now."
Firefighters still do patrol around the city during the shooting period.
"The complaint calls are coming down," Cain said. "They're still up there. We'll probably do over the entire five days, we'll probably do 50 to 60 just complaint calls, but those are tending to come down. Most of what we do is our patrol, is our just driving around. We see something, we stop and talk to people, let them know they can't be now, they can't be shooting out in the street and doing stuff like that."
The reason you can't shoot in the street is the danger from cars, not from fireworks.
"That seems to be our biggest complaint on both sides," Cain said. "You have everybody that wants to shoot and wants to shoot out in the street because they can't shoot in their driveway because of trees and so forth. Their biggest argument is it's safer to shoot out in the street away from the house. The problem becomes, on these side residential streets, it is so dark that even as we're patrolling, until we roll up on somebody actually out in the street, we can't see them unless they're shooting, and the way people drive these days, they're not going to be paying attention driving up and down those streets. So if you've got especially little kids out in the middle of the street shooting those off, it's a dangerous situation."
Cain said to talk to your neighbors ahead of the opening of the fireworks stands, so that everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done to keep everyone safe.
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