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Fireworks in Summit County
Friday
Dillon: display over Frisco Bay, visible from Dillon Amphitheatre, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday
Frisco: best viewed from Frisco Bay Marina. Musical accompaniment
on Krystal 93 FM, 9:30 p.m.
Breckenridge: immediately
following National Repertory Orchestra concert at Riverwalk
Center, with musical accompaniment on KSMT 102.1 FM, 9:30 p.m. Keystone: over Keystone Lake,
9 p.m.
Copper Mountain: over West Lake
in the Village, accompanied by
fire dancing, 9:55 p.m.
Dillon: display over Frisco Bay, visible from Dillon Amphitheatre, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday
Frisco: best viewed from Frisco Bay Marina. Musical accompaniment
on Krystal 93 FM, 9:30 p.m.
Breckenridge: immediately
following National Repertory Orchestra concert at Riverwalk
Center, with musical accompaniment on KSMT 102.1 FM, 9:30 p.m. Keystone: over Keystone Lake,
9 p.m.
Copper Mountain: over West Lake
in the Village, accompanied by
fire dancing, 9:55 p.m.
SUMMIT COUNTY — As patriotic explosions echo through Summit County this weekend, local authorities are telling folks to leave pyrotechnics to the professionals.
“There is no safe place (for amateurs) to shoot off fireworks. You are playing with fire,” said Steve Lipsher, public information officer for Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue.
In Colorado, legal fireworks are limited to those that don't leave the ground or explode. They include sparklers, fountains and snakes for sale in local retail stores.
But LDFR discourages even legal fireworks “if for no other reason than they are a recipe for accidents,” Lipsher said. “People really do put eyes out with fireworks.”
He said the department receives several calls — attributable to the influx of visitors — at this time of year, but that most calls involved motor-vehicle accidents and medical calls not connected with fireworks-related incidents.
Five professional displays are to occur in Summit County through Friday and Saturday.
Paulette Horr, public information officer for Summit County Sheriff's Office, said it is a class III misdemeanor to set off banned fireworks in the county, but that not many summonses are issued.
“I bet if we have three or four in the entire summer, that's probably a lot,” she said.
All fireworks are prohibited in national forests.
Despite the local laws, fireworks stands from states like Wyoming — where exploding and ascending fireworks are legal — are raking in cash from Coloradans seeking bottle rockets, artillery shells and firecrackers.
Coloradans represent about 90 percent of customers to the Phantom Fireworks stand in Cheyenne, according to one of its clerks.
Beth Cooper, St. Anthony Summit Medical Center's emergency room clinical nursing manager, said two people were admitted last year during Fourth of July for burns to the hand and leg.
She said it's uncertain whether the injuries were directly related to fireworks, but that it wouldn't be unusual.
“Unless there's a bad event at a big gathering, it's usually a couple people here and there playing with fireworks,” she said.
Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.
“There is no safe place (for amateurs) to shoot off fireworks. You are playing with fire,” said Steve Lipsher, public information officer for Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue.
In Colorado, legal fireworks are limited to those that don't leave the ground or explode. They include sparklers, fountains and snakes for sale in local retail stores.
But LDFR discourages even legal fireworks “if for no other reason than they are a recipe for accidents,” Lipsher said. “People really do put eyes out with fireworks.”
He said the department receives several calls — attributable to the influx of visitors — at this time of year, but that most calls involved motor-vehicle accidents and medical calls not connected with fireworks-related incidents.
Five professional displays are to occur in Summit County through Friday and Saturday.
Paulette Horr, public information officer for Summit County Sheriff's Office, said it is a class III misdemeanor to set off banned fireworks in the county, but that not many summonses are issued.
“I bet if we have three or four in the entire summer, that's probably a lot,” she said.
All fireworks are prohibited in national forests.
Despite the local laws, fireworks stands from states like Wyoming — where exploding and ascending fireworks are legal — are raking in cash from Coloradans seeking bottle rockets, artillery shells and firecrackers.
Coloradans represent about 90 percent of customers to the Phantom Fireworks stand in Cheyenne, according to one of its clerks.
Beth Cooper, St. Anthony Summit Medical Center's emergency room clinical nursing manager, said two people were admitted last year during Fourth of July for burns to the hand and leg.
She said it's uncertain whether the injuries were directly related to fireworks, but that it wouldn't be unusual.
“Unless there's a bad event at a big gathering, it's usually a couple people here and there playing with fireworks,” she said.
Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.
