The tents are now open.
Emporia’s annual fireworks sales and discharge period started at 10 am and now goes through 10 pm July 5.
Emporia Fire Marshal Stephen Beemer is urging people to take extra care with fireworks.
A guest on KVOE’s Morning Show this week, Beemer says a lot of fireworks injuries likely go unreported.
Both Beemer and Emporia Police Capt. Ray Mattas are reminding people not to shoot fireworks on city streets, in city parks and, in general terms, any government-owned property, regardless of whether it’s owned by the city of Emporia, Lyon County, Kansas or the federal government. Fireworks are also disallowed within 200 feet of hospital, medical facility, nursing home or school property lines.
For the most part, the sales and discharge window is 10 am to 10 pm through July 5. The exceptions are July 3-4, when the window is from 10 am to 11 pm. Fireworks complaints are prevalent at this time of year, so Mattas says officer response may be delayed, depending on the number of calls at a given time. He also says officers will ask residents to stop shooting off fireworks once — and if they have to return, they may well issue citations and take the offending fireworks.
