Will Salem police or fire respond to illegal firework calls? What to know
Salem Police senior officer and spokesperson Mark Jantz said Salem Police will respond to reports of crimes like reckless burning, arson and recklessly endangering another person.
"Because of the number of fireworks that are in use during the holiday, Salem Police respond to calls of dangerous criminal activity," Jantz said.
Salem Fire spokesperson Brian Carrara said Salem Fire will respond to calls "if things are on fire."
The city of Salem asked residents to only call 911 for fireworks related incidents involving injuries or fires.
In the past three years, Salem fire has responded to 12 fires caused by fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Salem Fire responded to three fires in 2024 that were caused by fireworks. Two of those fires were brush fires.
In 2023, Salem Fire responded to five fires caused by fireworks, including a building fire and a vehicle fire.
Salem Fire responded to four fireworks-related fires in 2022. Two were brush or grass fires.
Legal fireworks include ones that don't explode, leave the ground or behave in an uncontrolled manner and move less than 12 feet on the ground. These include fountains, flitter sparklers and ground spinners.
Fireworks are not permitted in Salem city parks.
Legal fireworks can be purchased from licensed sellers in Salem until July 6. There are 33 licensed retail locations in Salem.
Fireworks that are illegal without a permit are fireworks that fly, explode or behave unpredictably.
Roman candles, bottle rockets and firecrackers are illegal without a permit from the Oregon State Fire Marshal.
Illegal fireworks can be reported to the non-emergency dispatch line at 503-588-6123, Carrara said.
The use or possession of illegal fireworks without a permit is a Class B misdemeanor and can result in a fine of up to $2,500.
Modifications to illegal fireworks including using tape or putting them in a small container can lead to overpressure and the creation of a destructive device, which is a Class C felony.
Isabel Funk covers breaking news and public safety for the Statesman Journal. Funk can be reached at ifunk@statesmanjournal.com or on X at @isabeldfunk
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Will Salem police or fire respond to illegal firework calls on July 4?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
Man says he was attacked at Boston Common AMC after complaining about rowdy teens during movie
A Harvard Medical School student says that he was attacked at the Boston Common AMC Theater after complaining about rowdy teenagers during the movie. "My nose is still hurting. My black eye. I lost two or three days of work. My head is still hurting," Thiago Rentz said. The theater is located on Tremont Street and is one of the best theaters in the city, according to Time Out. The 35-year-old postdoctoral student says he went to see a movie with a friend last Wednesday night. During the film, a group of teens was making loud noises in the theater. "A group of eight guys and two girls they started making noise, clapping, screaming, and disturbing all the people. I asked them to be quiet. I ask them for respect, and they just ignored me," he said. After he asked the group to quiet down multiple times, he left to get a manager to deal with the situation, but he says AMC staff never addressed it. Rentz says that as he was leaving the theater with his friend, the teens stopped him in the lobby. "I couldn't pass, and they started hitting me. The target was my face and my head. I faced the wall and protected my face and head, and they were punching me for two or three minutes," he said. The group fled the theater before police arrived. "I want accountability. I want attackers to be identified. They need to know this can't happen. For the theater, I think they need to hire more people to work as security," he said. Rentz says he is completely shocked at what has happened to him and disappointed in the way AMC has handled this situation. "I came here to do research and I was just trying to enjoy a movie. And then five guys were attacking me. Five against one. It's not fair and the theater didn't answer me. I don't feel safe anymore and this is terrible," he said. WBZ-TV reached out to AMC for comment multiple times, but has not heard back. Boston Police are investigating the incident.
Bloomberg
12 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
SEC Says Two Brooklyn Men Made $2.2 Million in Insider Trades
The US Securities and Exchange Commission laid out new allegations against two men from Brooklyn, New York, who are accused of stealing confidential information from jobs processing corporate regulatory filings, now saying the pair pocketed more than $2.2 million from illicit trades. The SEC lawsuit follows criminal charges from US prosecutors in June. Authorities arrested Justin Chen, 31, and Jun Zhen, 29, on June 28 as they were about to board flights to Hong Kong.
CBS News
12 minutes ago
- CBS News
20 states and D.C. sue Trump administration for tying billions in crime victim grants to immigration enforcement
Twenty states and the District of Columbia sued the Justice Department on Monday for adding a new immigration enforcement rule to federal grants that assist victims of crime — arguing it's part of the Trump administration's crackdown against "sanctuary states." The lawsuit focuses on the Office for Victims of Crime, a 42-year-old division of the Justice Department that hands out more than $1 billion per year to all 50 states to compensate crime victims and fund programs like local crisis counseling centers, emergency shelters, domestic abuse hotlines and victim advocacy services. The Trump-era Justice Department added a new condition to those grants that denies funding to any program that "violates (or promotes or facilitates the violation of) federal immigration law." That includes failing to "give access to [Department of Homeland Security] agents, or honor DHS requests." But the states that joined Monday's lawsuit argue that the rule is illegal, since the Reagan-era law that set up the federal government's crime victim grant programs doesn't say anything about immigration enforcement. "The challenged conditions would force these States into an untenable position: either forfeit access to critical resources for vulnerable crime victims and their families, or accept unlawful conditions, allowing the federal government to conscript state and local officials to enforce federal immigration law," the states and D.C. argue in the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Rhode Island. Mostly Democratic states joined the suit, including California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Colorado. Collectively, they've received more than $500 million a year in crime victim grants since 2021, according to the lawsuit. The states asked a federal judge to block the new rules and declare them illegal. They said they need "urgent relief" since applications for most of the grants are due Wednesday. The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit. As President Trump seeks to dramatically ramp up arrests of suspected undocumented immigrants, his administration has taken aim at so-called sanctuary cities and states, which generally limit local police from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Within hours of his swearing-in on Jan. 20, the president signed an executive order directing officials to ensure that sanctuary jurisdictions "do not receive access to Federal funds." Weeks later, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Justice Department to identify and pause grants to groups that "support or provide services to removable or illegal aliens." The administration argues that sanctuary cities and states make it harder to enforce immigration laws, especially against criminals who end up in state or local custody. Supporters of sanctuary laws, however, argue that forcing local law enforcement officers to work with immigration agents makes migrants less likely to cooperate with the police. Monday's lawsuit said the conditions on crime victim grants risk "destroying trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities that is critical to preventing and responding to crime." "The federal government is attempting to use crime victim funds as a bargaining chip to force states into doing its bidding on immigration enforcement," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. Earlier this year, the Justice Department cut off hundreds of federal grant programs, including money for nonprofits that help victims of hate crimes, sex trafficking and violence against children, according to a list obtained by CBS News. The heads of some nonprofits warned they would need to lay off staff or shutter crime victim hotlines. At the time, a Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News: "We are confident that these cuts are consistent with the administration's priorities while at the same time protecting services that tangibly impact victims." A group of anti-domestic-violence nonprofits also sued the Justice Department earlier this year for banning grant funding under the Violence Against Women Act to groups that promote "gender ideology" or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. A judge paused that rule.
