Supervisors form committee to crack down on illegal fireworks

Cambria is one of the areas across the county where there were many reports of illegal fireworks during the Fourth of July. Now two county supervisors have formed a committee to address those concerns.

“It just takes one time and there could be a fire hazard from there and who knows what could happen,” said Cambria resident Blake Spiller.

The ad hoc committee formed by Supervisors Jimmy Paulding and Bruce Gibson aims to work with public safety officials on how to better enforce the fireworks laws already in place.

Marilyn Kirkey has lived in Cambria for 21 years and says this year has been the worst year for illegal fireworks.

“Before Fourth of July, even after Fourth of July, I think the entire community experienced periodic, early morning loud booms,” said Cambria resident Marilyn Kirkey.

Supervisor Gibson says illegal fireworks going off in places like Cambria is very concerning given the heightened fire risk in the pine forest.

Kirkey adds because they live in a forested area, it’s hard to tell exactly where the illegal fireworks were launched.

“I was thinking drones might be a solution where during that period of time we could pinpoint where this is happening and who’s doing it,” Kirkey said.

In a statement to KSBY Gibson said:
“Setting off illegal fireworks is an increasing problem, raising serious safety concerns and creating a lot of noise nuisance problems – so we need to step up accountability and cite those responsible.”

Blake Spiller says the illegal fireworks started happening a week before the Fourth of July with the last one he heard being just a week ago.

“Typically, they would be middle of the night between midnight at the earliest all the way up to 3 or 4 in the morning. Prime sleeping hours,” Spiller said.

Gibson says there may be some tweaks they can make to existing laws that could help. For example, in addition to citing a person for setting off fireworks, they could also cite the property owner in an effort to create an increased deterrent.

“Bottom line is safety so if there’s a committee to help strengthen the safety of the community, I think that is a good thing,” Spiller said.