NEW YORK — New Yorkers should keep safe while celebrating the upcoming July 4 holiday, Gov. Kathy Hochul reminded residents in a recent press release. As part of a multi-agency effort, the New York Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection, along with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services’ Office of Fire Prevention and Control and the New York State Department of Health are providing tips to help New Yorkers stay safe while celebrating Independence Day with legal sparkling devices in the release.
“As we celebrate this 4th of July with family and friends, it’s important that everyone take proper precautions to keep each other safe,” Hochul said in the release. “New Yorkers should exercise caution while using legal sparkling devices and enjoy this special day.” Sparkling devices are ground-based or handheld devices that produce a shower of colored sparks and or a colored flame, audible crackling or whistling noise and smoke, the release said.
The law limits the type, size and construction of sparkling devices and requires that these devices must be handheld or mounted on a base or spike and be limited in sizes that range from one to 500 grams of pyrotechnic composition. Every year, thousands of people — most of them children, teens and young adults — are injured while using fireworks, the release said. Most of these injuries happen in the weeks surrounding the 4th of July.
According to a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Sa.
