6/27/2008

Law enforcement officers will be seizing illegal fireworks and ticketing the users, officials said Friday, as fireworks stands opened in the area.

Salina Deputy Police Chief Carson Mansfield said extra patrol vehicles will be on the streets to ensure that only legal fireworks are used.

Within Salina’s city limits, only party poppers, booby traps, snappers, smoke bombs, snakes and whistling alarms that make only a small report are allowed. Sparklers, which are traditionally a leading cause of fireworks-related injury, are not allowed in town, Mansfield said.

Don’t expect to be able to shoot off a more extensive fireworks display outside of Salina’s city limits, either. It is illegal to shoot off fireworks anywhere in Saline County — except Brookville, which allows fireworks within the city limits with the property owner’s permission — according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office, 125 people were injured by fireworks in 2007, mostly by burns. Most were treated and released, but two were transferred to a burn center and five were admitted to hospitals for observation or treatment.