As I predicted would happen in a previous column, fireworks complaints skyrocketed before, during and after the Fourth of July holiday, thanks to Pennsylvania’s new law.

Passed last October, the legislation revised the law pertaining to consumer fireworks. This allowed consumers to buy certain types of displays which, before this, were illegal in the commonwealth. Along with the enabling legislation, restrictions were put on where these devices could be discharged.

Apparently, many consumers did not read the fine print, because police throughout our area received a number of complaints from property owners that fireworks were being set off within 150 feet of an occupied structure, a violation of the new law.

Fireworks set off near homes and other structures were responsible for several fires in the five-county Times News area, fortunately none of them life-threatening.

The main complaint, however, involved the noise level of the explosives at “all hours of the night.” Residents were not only concerned about their own inconvenience and interrupted sleep, but they were concerned about their pets.

A Lehighton woman said her two dogs were “petrified” nightly for a week because of the intense noise from fireworks in her neighborhood.

Since the holiday came in the middle of the week this year, the “celebrations” started the previous weekend and continued through the night of July 8 and early morning of July 9. Some local residents have complained that fireworks are still being set off late into the night.

This has prompted some communities to consider ordinances to prohibit the use of these devices after a certain time. Bethlehem, for example, is looking at an 11 p.m. deadline. Some communities already have noise ordinances in place which ban exceeding certain decibel levels after a certain hour. Using fireworks after this time could result in a citation in these communities.

A spokesman for an industry association said the group does not oppose a curfew but suggested that it be midnight rather than earlier.

Some police officials to whom I spoke in Carbon and Schuylkill counties suggested that communities not go off the “deep end” in imposing tougher sanctions, at least not at this time.

Several suggested that communities wait until “the dust settles.” They said that it is similar to when a child gets a new toy. There is an intense initial period where there is an abnormal focus on the item, but when the novelty wears off, things go back to normal.

Under the new law, consumers who are at least 18 years of age can now buy what is called Class C or consumer-grade fireworks, including Roman candles, bottle rockets and firecrackers. Before the law passed, only out-of-state residents could purchase these items.

Those igniting the fireworks cannot be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, according to the new law. Police officials from around the area whom I surveyed said that unless there is an incident which brings law enforcement into the picture it will be very difficult to police this provision of the new law.

Violators of the new law are subject to a fine of $100 plus court costs. Some of the municipalities considering ordinances fixing restrictions on when fireworks can be set off are proposing much stiffer fines, in some cases five times as much.

By the way, professional-grade fireworks, such as those used at municipal or other public events, can be used only by permit.

Although state officials are still compiling information and statistics on the recent Fourth of July holiday, we do know that there were nearly 13,000 fireworks-related injuries throughout the country in 2017, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Common sense tells me that there have been and will continue to be more injuries and incidents in Pennsylvania this year compared to previous years because of the expanded use of fireworks.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com