Emergency and medical crews in Wichita saw a mixed bag in the week leading up to and on the July 4 holiday, with fewer people reportedly visiting local emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries but more citizens receiving citations for banned items and more nuisance complaints phoned into 911 dispatchers compared to last year. It was also a better year for house fires during the nine days fireworks could be legally discharged in the city, with fewer than half the number reported in 2020. Fire crews monitoring the city for illegal fireworks over the July 4 holiday weekend wrote a total of 88 citations and confiscated several items banned under local ordinance, Wichita Fire Department Battalion Chief Jose Ocadiz said Tuesday during an afternoon news briefing held at downtown’s Fire Station No. 1. Mortars and artillery shells were confiscated most often, he said. Some illegal fireworks taken had been discharged while others were unopened.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
