Police: Bethlehem will operate on a 'zero-tolerance policy' this Fourth of July

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brian Downs didn’t mince words Monday when discussing safety during the upcoming Independence Day holiday.

“No matter how many times you hear these same messages, bad things still happen, and often it’s because of carelessness, or because alcohol is involved,” Downs said.

He's director of media relations for Lehigh Valley Health Network and the co-chairman of the Lehigh Valley DUI/Highway Safety Task Force.

At Bethlehem Fire Department’s Company No. 6 Memorial Fire Station, Downs was joined by Deputy Chief of Fire Craig Baer, Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott and other community partners to stress that pyrotechnics should be left to professionals.

“Just because fireworks can be legally purchased and used here in Pennsylvania, that doesn't necessarily make them safe,” Baer said.

Consumer-grade, or Class C, fireworks are legal for those 18 and older to buy in the state, including firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles and other fireworks that contain a maximum of 50 milligrams of explosive material.

But in the hands of consumers and discharged in places they shouldn’t be, those explosives have started an average of 19,000 fires per year nationwide, Baer said.

And since consumer fireworks have become legal, Bethlehem has averaged 10 fires per year over the holiday season.

Those incidents have played out despite laws and ordinances that ban fireworks from being discharged near buildings or vehicles, and on all city property, city parks, buildings or structures, streets, sidewalks and roads.

“One of the major causes of fire that we see here in the city of Bethlehem is people discharging or discarding fireworks containers that are still hot or smoldering,” Baer said.

Chief: State law 'really handcuffs us'

Consumer fireworks became legal in Pennsylvania in fall 2017, but updates made to the state law last year say fireworks:

• Cannot be ignited or discharged on public or private property without permission of the property owner
• Cannot be directed at another person
• Cannot be discharged from or directed at a building or vehicle
• Cannot be discharged within 150 feet of a building or vehicle regardless if the building or vehicle is owned by the user of the fireworks

The state law also restricts the use of consumer fireworks between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m., except on July 2, 3, 4 and Dec. 31, when they may be used until 1 a.m.

If July 4 falls on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday (as it does this year), they may be used until 1 a.m. on the immediately preceding and following Friday and Saturday.

Local municipalities also implement their own restrictions for fireworks, but Kott said it hasn’t deterred residents.

“I'm anticipating similar issues like every other year, because like Fire Marshal Baer said, possession is not illegal in the state of Pennsylvania, and that really handcuffs us," she said.

“I understand our folks out in Harrisburg, when they redid the law, I know it generates revenue, and you know, people love fireworks.

"But it has to be done safely and it really makes it hard when you can legally possess them and walk down the street carrying a Roman candle or a bottle rocket, and we can't do anything unless we're physically able to see somebody lighting it off.”

Kott said her staff looked at all the different areas where theoretically residents could light fireworks legally, and because the city is so populated, there are not a lot of places.

To that end, she said a zero-tolerance policy will be enforced.

“If we just kind of let people light things off, someone's going to get hurt or killed,” she said.

'You will be arrested'

With impaired driving also a major concern, the State Police Troop M-Bethlehem will have an extended Independence Day Holiday Enforcement period, Trooper Nathan Branosky said.

Branosky said the enforcement period will begin at 12:01 a.m. July 3 and conclude at 11:59 p.m. July 7.

It comes after Troop M (Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks county) troopers investigated a total of 63 crashes and made 29 DUI arrests during the 2023 enforcement period.

“We’ll have increased troopers out on overtime details," Branosky said. "They're going to be looking for impaired drivers, drivers that are operating vehicles aggressively, distracted drivers.

"We also look for drivers that are speeding, and we look beyond the traffic side. So when we do stop somebody for a violation, we're going to look for items such as slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and smell of alcohol.

"And if there's a zero tolerance during this period, you will be taken into custody and you will be arrested.”

Troopers also will look for drivers under the impairment of drugs.

“Anybody that smoked marijuana, same thing, you will be stopped and you will be arrested for DUI,” Branosky said.

“We're going to be out there in force."

Troopers also are advising motorists not to park their vehicles anywhere on Interstate 78, including the ramps, shoulder or center median, during the annual Dorney Park fireworks celebration.

“Please let people know there’s zero tolerance there too,” Branosky said. “We see it every year and parking on the shoulder of the highway causes a real danger to other motorists.

"People need to know just don’t do it. They will be towed.”