Holiday weekend fireworks brought many smiles to the faces, but there were some mishaps in the state.
While residents enjoyed the free and safe to view public shows, some residents who put on their own shows at home had issues.
Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael Chionchio says there were fireworks related fires in Clayton, Camden, and Bridgeville.
"Right now, we had three structure fires that were directly related to fireworks being discarded on the side of the homes burning up the side of the homes and causing structure damage," Chionchio said.
Chionchio notes there were no reported injuries in those incidents.
Incidents like these are one reason the State Fire Marshal’s office encourages residents to go to fireworks displays run by professionals.
And he adds there have been many reports of fireworks being set off illegally, and he says they’re being reported over multiple days at all hours.
"Three or four or five days, eight at night, 10:00 at night, 2:30 in the morning, and we've had several people complaining," Chionchio said. "The one's early morning probably, I can't say for sure, but the alcohol involvement probably plays a factor."
Chionchio says setting off fireworks at home also creates other issues for people and pets.
"It's hard to put in statistics the number of pets that fell ill or veterans with the loud explosions that are going off. We just can't measure that and that occurs," said Chionchio. "That's a factor that we're very concerned about - not only fires or injuries, but also the effects on those neighbors and people with tragic histories."
Fireworks can only be purchased in Delaware during the 30 day period before July 4th, and can only be set off on the Fourth. Possession of fireworks became illegal on Ju
