Albuquerque Fire Rescue says officers struggle to cite illegal fireworks users because they must catch people while they are lighting them.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Albuquerque Fire Rescue says officers struggle to cite illegal fireworks users because they must catch people while they are lighting them.
KOB 4 spoke with Albuquerque Fire Rescue Chief Emily Jaramillo on Tuesday about fireworks enforcement ahead of the Fourth of July.
“We have to be able to catch somebody in the action of lighting the firework, which is the biggest challenge with enforcement of the fireworks,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo said Albuquerque police and fire crews see and hear illegal fireworks across the city around the holiday, but people often stop before officers can cite them.
“One of the problems is when people see APD, AFR, responding out, they know they’re not supposed to be doing it, and they stop, they run, and unless we see them lighting, we can’t issue that citation,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo said people should still report illegal fireworks to 311.
Dry conditions a concern
Jaramillo said she feels especially concerned this year because of very dry conditions across the metro and across the state.
She said the fireworks discussion may need to go beyond Albuquerque and reach the state level.
“If we had that statewide ban, and that would have to come from our legislature, so we’d have to reach out to your congress to work on that is that we would then need to have like a more civil citation and so there’s kind of some steps there like statewide ban is a great start,” Jaramillo said.
Officials say fireworks marked “caution” are legal to buy in Bernalillo County, while fireworks labeled “warning” are illegal.
KOB 4 also asked the Albuquerque Police Department how many people officers cited for illegal fireworks during the last Fourth of July. APD said the number was zero.
