HORN LAKE, Miss — Horn Lake could find itself on the same page as other DeSoto County cities with a potential ban on fireworks. Tuesday night, the city's aldermen will reconsider its stance on fireworks. Alderman Jackie Bostick has been vocal for his support of banning fireworks or increasing enforcement saying people in town are still lighting off fireworks nearly two weeks after the holiday. Fire Chief David Linville agrees on banning fireworks outright.
“Just way too many people shutting fireworks," he said. "It’s not the fireworks but the way people do them.
A home in the 2600 block of Eastbrook Drive suffered extensive damage on the 4th of July after fireworks caused it to catch fire.
“There’s just no consideration of the people that live in that area as far as taking care of your neighbors," Linville said. "I guess that’s the biggest concern. You just don’t go out in your front yard shooting fireworks letting them fall on your neighbor’s roof.”
Chief Linville said the last few weeks surrounding 4th of July have been particularly tough. He said it seems more people are setting them off leading to fires and injuries. His concern is also how populated the area is.
"You can’t shoot them in the subdivision where you have houses right next to each other," he said. "They don’t have big lots, yards right next to each other so you really don’t have a safe place to shoot them.”
In addition to the house fire, Linville said they've responded to car fires, grass fires and trash can fires caused by people not properly disposing of their fireworks.
Horn Lake police said since June they've received at least 55 complaints related to fireworks. That number was down from 89 calls in 2020 when public celebrations were nearly all halted due to the pandemic.