Newcastle to light up the skies on 4th

The Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department will help the community celebrate Independence Day this year, but their annual display will be on Sunday, July 3 instead of July 4.
There will be plenty of fireworks on Independence Day, however, as they are permitted in both the county and Newcastle on the 4th of July. 
“Fireworks are prohibited on federal and state lands and inside the Town of Upton. The City of Newcastle allows fireworks from noon until midnight on July 4,” said Daniel Tysdal, Weston County fire warden, in a June 22 email. 
“Since county-implemented open burning restrictions(s) are not currently in effect in Weston County, fireworks are allowed at any time on private land outside of the city limits of Upton and Newcastle; however, extreme caution is urged, as warm and windy weather can cause fire conditions to change quickly,” Tysdal said.
He noted that cheat grass in the county is beginning to mature and turn from green to purple, which will change to brown as it completely cures in just a few days. 
“Although our fire danger is currently moderate, as I briefly mentioned in the post (a Facebook post to the Weston County Fire District’s page), warm and windy weather can change fire conditions quickly, especially in our grass fuel models, so folks still need to be extremely cautious when lighting fireworks,” he said in an email to the News Letter Journal. The email also contained the information highlighted in the Facebook post. 
Tysdal encourages the public to use common sense while shooting off fireworks. 
“They (people) should be sure to light fireworks in a clear, open area away from buildings, vehicles, trees and dry grass (large areas of bare ground, gravel or concrete are preferred),” Tysdal advised in the email. “Be sure to have fire suppression means available while lighting, preferably a connected water hose, but at minimum a suitable fire extinguisher and shovel.” 
If a fire does start and cannot be readily suppressed, a call to 911 should be placed immediately so firefighters and equipment can be dispatched as quickly as possible. Tysdal noted that the caller should be prepared to provide accurate and detailed directions to the location. 
“After shooting fireworks, the public should be sure to pick up their trash and remain in the area for at least 30 minutes to ensure there are no smoldering embers that may cause a fire,” he said. 
In addition to firework safety in relation to fires, Tysdal also encouraged the public to light fireworks safely to avoid injury. 
According to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 2019 Fireworks Annual Report graphic, 243 people, on average, go to the emergency room every day in the month surrounding the 4th of July holiday for firework-related injuries. The study period related to the statistics ran from June 21 to July 21, 2019. 
Of these injuries, 12% were caused by sparklers, 11% by firecrackers, 6% by roman candles, 5% by bottle rockets, 3% by novelty fireworks, 2% by reloadable shells, 2% by public display fireworks and 1% by homemade fireworks. The other 56% of the injuries were caused by unspecified fireworks, according to the report. 
The largest portion of these injuries, 34%, affected individuals between the ages of 25 and 44. Children under the age of 4 received the second-highest amount of injuries at 13%, followed by people of ages 15 to 19 at 13%, 10 to 14 at 11%, 5 to 9 at 11%, 20 to 24 at 8%, 45 to 64 at 7% and 65 and older at 1%. 
The report encourages the public to follow firework safety tips to help reduce the chance of injuries. These tips include never allowing children to play with or ignite fireworks and lighting only one firework at a time. 
Additional safety tips can be found at cpsc.gov/fireworks.