GAINESVILLE—Now that the proverbial dust has settled on another Fourth of July holiday, authorities in Hall County say it was a relatively quiet one, even with the advent of new consumer fireworks.
"We had very few calls for fireworks disturbances, less than normal, actually," said Nicole Bailes with the Hall County Sheriff's Office in an email, adding that no injuries were reported from the fireworks, either.
The Gainesville Fire Department reported similar trends.
"(GFD reports) didn't show any fireworks related calls. Thank goodness!" said Keith Smith, Gainesville Fire Department Division Chief, also via email.
In the article linked above (from July 1), Hall County Fire Marshal Scott Cagle raised concerns over the safety of the "aerial" fireworks now available for sale in Georgia this year.
He said emergency responders had dealt with injuries from those types of pyrotechnics in the past, when they were illegal, but brought in from other states. Early reports Sunday morning indicate this was a quiter year.
UPDATE: Monday morning Cagle said his department did receive one call related to fireworks on the Fourth. A man in the portion of Braselton that lies in Hall County had to put out a fire in a trash can that was sparked by discarded fireworks. A passer-by called 911 to report the fire, but the resident was able to extinguish it with a garden hose before crews arrived.
