Fireworks task force patrolling Pittsburgh through July 5

Pittsburgh police began their annual crackdown on illegal fireworks this week, sending an eight-member task force out each night until July 5 to deal with illegal personal-use fireworks that can cause fires and injuries.

Already this year, fireworks are suspected in two fires: a car fire in Pittsburgh earlier this week and a house fire last month in McKeesport.

Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said the task force will use the city’s gunshot detection system, called Shotspotter, to help track where illegal fireworks are being set off.

“(Fireworks) can result in serious injuries and destruction of properties, as well as being very disruptive and unnerving for both people and pets,” Hissrich said.

Pennsylvania legalized aerial fireworks in 2017, but it remains against the law to light them within 150 feet of any type of structure, and they are not allowed in parks or on other public property.

That rules out most of Pittsburgh.

The task force, made up of city police and firefighters, was formed in 2020 after an exponential increase in fireworks complaints in the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July: a 389% increase in calls in the first three weeks of June compared to the same span in 2019.

And that was despite a global pandemic.

In all, fireworks caused at least seven structure fires last year, along with numerous brush fires, injuries and noise complaints, officials said. A fight among neighbors sparked by fireworks sent five people to the hospital. Twenty-two people received citations.

For a first-time complaint, residents will receive a warning and an explanation of the law. Subsequent calls to the same address could mean a $100 citation and confiscation of the fireworks, officials said.