Local first responders fielded hundreds of calls Independence Day

Blount County law enforcement responded to 215 fireworks-related calls in the two weeks surrounding Independence Day 2024. The call numbers, which include multiple kinds of incidents, may have been higher than the year before despite reports of fewer incidents.

That’s according to data from the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and the Blount County 911 Center obtained by The Daily Times. The figures from BCSO, which span June 23-July 7, indicate Maryville Police Officers answered the most calls for service over that period.

Calls ranged from noise complaints to reports of fires sparked by holiday explosives. July 4 boasted the highest volume of calls, with the second largest number coming in the next day.

Silent night

Although some local law enforcement had been bracing for potential misuse around the holiday, beefing up patrols and conducting public education campaigns, police in Alcoa and Maryville reported low incident numbers by July 5. Although one man died misusing fireworks in Greenback, the rest of the celebrations, Alcoa and Maryville Police Chiefs David Carswell and Tony Crisp told The Daily Times Friday morning, were mostly docile and nothing compared to the year before.

In 2023, calls regarding widespread misuse and reports of fireworks used against first responders led authorities in both cities to pass ordinances restricting the explosives.

Actual call volume across the county may have varied. In 2023, The Daily Times reported the 911 Center received 113 calls the week of the holiday. This year, that number sits around 150.

The difference may not have been in incidents reported, such as fires or injuries, but in noise complaints.

“We did a cursory review of the call types and there was one that we located that was listed as vandalism,” Blount County 911 Director Jimmy Long told The Daily Times in an email Monday. “The others were coded just ‘fireworks,’ and that typically means a noise complaint.”

Noise

In 2023, noise complaints were a key reason elected officials in Alcoa cited while drafting an ordinance to restrict fireworks sales. After conducting a field test in which city commissioners listened to fireworks set off in a closed environment, the city initially sought to ban the sale of reloadable mortars, which often produce louder noises.

Commissioners later dropped that regulation from the ordinance, choosing to focus on raising the purchasing age and reducing sales dates — a move mirrored by neighboring Maryville.

BCSO’s call stats say Maryville officers responded to 86 calls surrounding the holiday, only a few more than the 78 deputies answered.

The body of calls “include two structure fires, three brush fires, two dumpster fires, and one other outdoor fire, all of which were attributed to fireworks when reported to 911,” BCSO Public Information Officer Marian O’Briant told The Daily Times Tuesday.