DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Survivors of house fires are warning people to take the laws regulating fireworks seriously this holiday weekend.
“Never in a million years did I think it could be something that could be this damaging,” Myles Wilson told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco.
Wilson watched his Northeast Atlanta apartment complex burn down due to fireworks in 2023.
“Fireworks, like, wow. Not a bomb or anything. It was fireworks,” said Wilson.
In January of this year, Channel 2 Action News shared video of a grass fire burning next to a Chamblee apartment complex.
Witnesses were able to stop it and say people shooting fireworks on Peachtree Road caused it.
The same night, fireworks malfunctioned on Longshore Cove in Dekalb County. The flames ignited a neighbor’s yard. The family lighting the fireworks poured buckets of water on it before it spread to the neighbor’s home.
“It truly can happen to anyone,” said Tiffany Pinkston, the spokesperson for Dekalb County Fire Rescue.
“Each year, we see preventable injuries and fire that could have been avoided if individuals know the law,” said Pinkston.
For example, this year, Milton has restricted fireworks near horses.
That adds to state law that already banned fireworks near public streets, sidewalks, property and health care facilities.
If you are going to launch them, firefighters say, prepare with a water hose and fire extinguisher.
“That will also allow you to maintain a safe distance if you need to put it out,” said Pinkston.
She said also douse debris and matches in water because they can still be smoldering for hours.
Reflecting on the loss he and his neighbors endured, Wilson thinks cities should ban fireworks near muti-family housing complexes.
“It could tear down a whole building, displace a bunch of people and ruin people’s lives,” said Wilson.
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