Harrison County Fire Services weighs in on shooting fireworks

This New Year’s Eve, make sure your world doesn’t go up in smoke.

Harrison County Fire Service urges caution during the holiday as everyone gets ready to do some amateur rocket science.

It’s illegal to shoot fireworks within most city limits, but the 26 mile stretch of beach is fair game for the holiday. If you do shoot fireworks on the beach, clean up any leftover debris.

As for the county areas, there are no rules against shooting off a few rockets.

Fire Chief Pat Sullivan says you should pay attention to manufacturer instructions. “When we were kids, we all wanted to see a bigger boom so we might gather them together and do something the manufacturer doesn’t recommend. That’s dangerous. They recommend a certain way to fire them for safety reasons. Know what the fireworks do, know that they can be harmful and that there needs to be supervision on them.”

Sullivan also recommends keeping fireworks pointed away from homes and for them to be kept from children.