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2021/07/26 - Mayor's Column: Fireworks

“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
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Yes, fireworks are exciting and very nice to watch like the beautiful fireworks display that we had on July 3rd at the Sports Park. But there is another side to fireworks that some do not want to pay attention to. And that is that they are illegal in Illinois, dangerous, and extremely painful to some people and pets.

Let me share with you a couple of facts from this fourth of July Weekend:

  1. There were over 55 calls for illegal fireworks in O’Fallon alone.
  2. Our 911 Center handled over 150 calls on illegal fireworks.
  3. Fireworks were the cause of two fires this year that the Fire Department responded to.
  4. Yes, there were injuries from fireworks reported by all three local hospitals.
  5. Illegal fireworks were going off for over three days.
  6. Fireworks were going off until after 11 p.m. on some nights.

And this was during a year when there was a shortage of Fireworks.

Now what happens if you need immediate medical attention but 911 is tied up on a fireworks’ call? What happens if you call for a burglary, but the officer is delayed because he is on a fireworks’ call? What happens if you have a fire at your home, but the trucks and our volunteer firefighters are fighting a fire caused by fireworks?

How do we explain it to a Volunteer Firefighter’s family if he is injured fighting a fire caused by illegal fireworks?

Should an elderly couple have to endure loud fireworks by their neighbor when the husband asks the neighbor if he would please stop because he just brought his wife, who suffers from a severe heart problem, home from the hospital and the neighbor just laughs at him?

You may say that none of that will happen to me, but I am sure that is what the 24-year-old Goalie of the Columbus Blue Jackets thought, as he sat in a hot tub watching fireworks prior to his death that was caused by misfired fireworks on this latest 4th of July Holiday.

Safety is one of my biggest concerns for our community, so I am going to ask our Public Safety Committee to review our current policies on how we treat illegal fireworks and see if those policies need to be changed.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!