Laura Glesby photo
Last year’s July 4 city fireworks display.
New Haven has seen a tenfold increase in fireworks complaints compared to this time last year, as cooped up city residents indulge in colorful, noisy, dangerous, and illegal at-home explosions late into the night.
Fire Chief John Alston gave that update Thursday afternoon during Mayor Justin Elicker’s latest Covid-19 virtual press briefing, which was held online via the Zoom videoconference platform.
Alston said that city police and firefighters received roughly 300 fireworks complaints during the first three weeks of June.
In that same time period last year, Alston said, the city’s public safety department received only 30 to 40 such complaints.
“We’re concerned about this from a health and safety side,” Alston said.
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While the city has not seen any reports of significant injury related to fireworks yet this year, he said, people who blow up fireworks at home risk losing a finger or a hand. They also risk incurring serious burns because of the explosive past time. And the loud noises frequently traumatize military veterans, he said, who hear the explosions and are thrown back into memories of armed conflict.
Alston said that the city has received so many complaints that it has formed a new fireworks task force consisting of city firefighters and police officers who will respond to fireworks complaints between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. every evening. Alston said the task force will be responding to calls this weekend during the July 4 holiday.
The city has cancelled its annual July 4 fireworks display out of concern that the large gathering could turn into a coronavirus super spreader even.
Alston said that the city will arrest people who blow up fireworks. He said that so far, when police and firefighters on the city taskforce have responded to complaints, the people blowing up fireworks have simply fled and the city officials have confiscated the remaining fireworks materials.
The fire chief said that fireworks, per state law, are illegal unless if they are part of a regulated, state-licensed display.
“If it goes boom, or if it goes up in the air, it’s illegal,” he said.
New Haven isn’t the only municipality to see an uptick in fireworks usage as people throughout the country find themselves spending more and more time at home, seeking diversionary entertainment, during the Covid-19 pandemic. New York City saw an 800 percent increase in fireworks complaints during the first three weeks of June.
In a city alert sent out by email and text message Thursday evening, Elicker reiterated the city’s admonition against using fireworks this holiday weekend.
“As we take a moment to celebrate our nation’s birth, I want to remind you to do so with a level of safety,” he wrote. “I will remind you, fireworks are illegal in Connecticut, that includes things like bottle rockets, roman candles, and firecrackers. The City has been getting hundreds of noise complaints regarding fireworks. We will not tolerate this, and our New Haven Fire Department will be responding to these calls.”
Grand Prix Canceled; 250 Cars Allowed At Lighthouse
Other updates included:
• The city now has a total of 2,712 confirmed positive Covid-19 cases and 112 related fatalities.
“Overall, our trending is in a really good place.” Elicker said the city is averaging around four new positive cases a day.
The mayor credited New Haveners following social distancing guidelines and wearing face masks when out in public for helping reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus in the city.
He also said that the city’s new testing site on the Green on Wednesday saw 98 people come by to get tested by Murphy Medical Associates. That Green testing site will be up every Wednesday, he said.
• Elicker said that the city has closed its housing operation at the University of New Haven, where the city had previously secured beds for public safety officers who had not tested positive for Covid-19 but feared exposure and needed to stay somewhere other than home. He said the city’s agreement with Albertus Magnus College to house people who have tested positive and need a place to self-isolate is still in effect, though there is no one currently staying at Albertus for that reason.
• The city has moved roughly 120 homeless people from two local hotels to one as the city’s social services division continues to work with local homeless care providers to find more permanent housing. Elicker said that the city in partnership with a variety of nonprofits has already helped find housing for 222 previously homeless people in recent months, including 59 in June. Click here to read a recent story by the New Haven Register’s Mary O’Leary about the city’s homeless housing efforts.
• The city has canceled the annual Grand Prix bicycle race event. It’s reopened splashpads throughout the city.
And Lighthouse Point Park will be open on July 4 with a higher car capacity than previously allowed during the pandemic. Elicker said that the city will be bumping up the allowed parking capacity from 100 cars to 250 cars for the holiday weekend.