EDMONTON- Fireworks can be a great addition to any New Year's celebration. But, while fireworks can be a lot of fun, they can also be extremely dangerous.
New Year's Eve is a popular night for fireworks, second only to Canada Day. But, in order to purchase fireworks in Edmonton you must have a permit.
"Permits must be brought in, looked at, and photocopied before purchase," explained Ron Schnitzler, owner of Discount Flags, a local fireworks shop that has been in business for 25 years.
Permits to shoot fireworks on your own property are free however, they come with strict regulations that must be followed. This year, the city toughened up those regulations, in regards to the amount of space you need to have on your property.
"You need about a 10 metre fallout zone in your own property," explained Acting Fire Marshall, Rusty Foerger, with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services.
"It used to be a person would go their local station and get a fireworks permit and, probably, there wasn't as much attention to just measuring that fallout zone," Foerger added.
Now, permits are only issued at the city's fire prevention office, where staff members have a computer program that will pull up any property and measure it, to ensure that property has a safe 10 metre fallout zone, in all directions.
"We know we've been more restricted. We've seen about a 60 percent reduction in issuing fireworks (permits) and that's because we have been careful on this whole safe fallout zone," said Foerger.
"Sometimes people want to shoot over water areas or into the ravine, those are not safe locations, we're not going to give permits for those kinds of locations," he added.
As with most things involving fire, safety is the number one concern when it comes to fireworks.
"About 30 percent of firework injuries are to people's hands and about 20 percent to their eyes and we just really want to restrict these fires and injuries that can happen from fireworks," Foerger said, "They're shooting off an explosive projectile and if they're not careful, if the wind carries it or blows it down, or if it goes in the wrong direction, then it (can) go into other people's property, through their own house or into a crowd of people. So, it's a huge concern to us."
Schnitzler says when it comes to firework safety, a lot of it comes down to common sense.
"You should have a fire extinguisher nearby," he said, "Wearing safety goggles is highly recommended and no flammable clothing and, of course, no drinking during fireworks- it's very unsafe."
Above all, Schnitzler urges his customers to follow the safety guidelines on the fireworks and carefully read the rules on the back of their permit.
"It can be a fun event for the family, we've had lots of families in here enjoying fireworks and having a great time, again, it's all responsibility. Follow your permit to a tee," he said, "You want to have a good time, you don't want to see yourself spending time in the emergency ward."
Fireworks are restricted when the wind picks up to speeds of 45 kilometres per hour or higher. For more information on fireworks safety, visit the city's website.
Permits can be obtained from the city's fire prevention office. It is located at 10565-105 Street, and is open Monday to Friday. You can contact the office at 780-496-3628.
Anyone who wants to purchase fireworks for use outside of Edmonton must have written permission from the local fire department in the region in which the fireworks will be used. This permission must have a date no older than two weeks before the time of purchase.
With files from Shannon Greer.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.