AURORA, Colo. — Law enforcement officers around the Denver metro area have been swamped in the last 24 hours with thousands of calls about illegal fireworks.
“We certainly heard a lot of concern from the community,” Aurora Police Officer Bill Hummel told FOX31.
From July 4th to the next morning, Aurora Police received about 1,200 calls about illegal fireworks – one-third more calls than normal.
Denver Police received about the same number of fireworks calls and issued seven court summons. They also confiscated four to six cubic yards of illegal fireworks, minus the packaging.
Lakewood Police received 219 calls and issued four summons, while Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies confiscated about 500 pounds of fireworks, received 318 calls about them and issued 53 summons.
Many cities and counties around Denver and Colorado banned fireworks this year because it’s been so dry and the fire danger is extremely high.
“It’s really not worth the fun to worry about burning your neighbor’s house down or catching a field on fire,” said Officer Hummel.
Typically, the Fourth of July holiday is one of the busiest days for law enforcement officers.
Departments, including Aurora Police, put as many officers as patrol as possible.
They also use discretion in writing court summons versus simply confiscating the illegal fireworks.