The Emporia Police Department has released information regarding Sunday’s fireworks display being shot off at dark at Emporia State University in honor of the Fourth of July holiday.
The public will need to follow guidelines in regard to parking during the fireworks display. Parking will be allowed in several areas at ESU and the stadium will be open, said Police Sgt. Jim Tilton. Concession stands will be open at the stadium and also the HPER building. Seating will be allowed at the football practice fields as well. No parking, however, will be allowed along the roadway along the practice fields. Bathrooms and port-a-potties will be available during the evening.
Parking will not be permitted at Trusler Sports Complex.
Residents of Emporia are allowed to shoot off fireworks in the city of Emporia this year.
The ordinance approves the discharge in yhe city — but not the sale — of Class C fireworks that are sold in Kansas. Bottle rockets are illegal in Kansas and are not an approved item in Emporia. In addition to Class C fireworks, novelty items will be allowed such as toy smoke devices, poppers, sparklers, burning “snakes,” and toy caps and balls.
The discharge of fireworks will be allowed from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on July 3 and from 10 a.m. to midnight on July 4.
Fireworks will be prohibited on “street right-of-way, in city parks, city golf course, city parking lot, recreation fields, David Traylor Zoo, Lee Beran Recreation Center, Jones Aquatic Center and all federal, state, county or city-owned or leased real property within the city limits of Emporia,” according to the ordinance. “The sale of Class C fireworks within the corporate city limits of Emporia shall continue to be prohibited.”
Although the ban is lifted for this Fourth of July, the chief of the Emporia Fire Department will still have the authority to ban the discharge of all fireworks within Emporia if weather conditions, like dryness, make it hazardous. The decision to ban fireworks will be announced by radio, television and newspaper.
Emporia school-district property is off-limits for the purpose of shooting off fireworks.
“We want to make sure the public understands that they cannot shoot off fireworks on school district property on Saturday and Sunday,” said Nancy Horst, community relations director for the district.
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
Well, I really wish that the festival could've happened in its entirety, but with what I saw driving through town, I'm actually kind of thankful for the rain. I think we have averted several neighborhood fires because of it. People in Emporia don't generally educate themselves about proper precautions with dangerous or potentially trespassing activities.
Just out of curiosity, however, what did everyone think of the new location? Pros? Cons?
July 4, 2010 at 11:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
I meant to ask what everyone thought of the new location of the city fireworks display.
July 4, 2010 at 11:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
So much for the 10:00 curfew on the fireworks. I live in the middle of town and at 11:25 it still sounds like a war zone. Not so much trouble for me since I have the day off, but the barking dog, the wide awake kids and the wife that has to get up for work in 6 hours are not to happy right now.
July 4, 2010 at 11:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
Sorry, just realized it was midnight tonight.
July 4, 2010 at 11:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
thediarywithin (anonymous) says...
I loved having the chance to sit at welch stadium and watch the fireworks. They seem to go on and on and on...it was even better then where I am from.
As for the not having a ban on fireworks. It's been fun to hear people celebrating. The people that live near me are following the rules. They haven't passed the curfew at all. As for saving several fires from happening since the rain is false. People are still doing fireworks and I think they are doing it very well. I usually hear serins at my place all the time and I haven't heard a single one.
July 5, 2010 at 12:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Like Oh4, I too am thankful for the rain. I kept hearing "thunk" "thunk" noises and realized it was nubs of ash hitting my windows. Damn!
I live in central Emporia, and fireworks were still going on way after midnight.
When people insist on legalizing fireworks inside the city, are they realizing that some of those setting off fireworks are drunk? Mentally challenged? Just plain stupid?
Oh4 said it so much more nicely so I'll repeat it here: "People in Emporia don't generally educate themselves about proper precautions with dangerous or potentially trespassing activities."
Yes, I'm glad it was raining. I can't help but think that it helped avert many neighborhood fires.
July 5, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Well, what I am wondering is, if the city, in their infinate wisdom (?????) manages to make the shooting of fireworks inside the City " legal " , then if someones house is set ablaze by someone elses fireworks, will that make the City legally responsible for the damage caused and open to a possible lawsuit ?
Good grief, it has not been legal to shoot fireworks inside the City of Emporia, for decades now and the fireworks law has never been actively enforced anyway. So why change now and legalize what has been happening for years anyway ?
Just who are the leaders of Emporia trying to impress anyway ?
Sounds like another attempt at being and doing what other much admired and much loved Cities are doing. What a load of crap.
July 5, 2010 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
I'm pretty sure that fireworks are legal to shoot off in Topeka and with it being a much larger city you would think we'd hear about the massive fire disasters there every year. Perhaps we as a community are more flammable than Topeka, I don't know. I am annoyed by drunken imbeciles with explosives as much as the next person but being annoyed a few days out of the year isn't so bad.
July 5, 2010 at 10:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nks (anonymous) says...
I guess what was expected, happened. Even though a curfew was set for very late, (midnight) we had those disrespectful jerks in the middle of town shooting off fireworks WELL past midnight, keeping my family up. Maybe I should have them spend the day with my grouchy kids and wife(who had to work today).
Maybe they should allow fireworks again next year, but this time, set a minimum of a $500 fine. This way it would cut down on the after hours fireworks and allow people to get to bed, and bring in some good revenue.
July 5, 2010 at 10:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Last year it was illegal to shoot off fireworks in the city limits. Guess what nks? People broke the law and shot them off at all hours of the night and day.
This year it was legal to shoot fireworks between certain hours of the day and guess what methusla? People broke the law and shot them off at all hours of the night and day.
Haven't heard of any fires or injuries so far.
So the main difference is this year the police department had to respond to fewer calls, (at least for 26 hours), saving time and money.
The old law was not enforced, this one won't be either.
So what's the difference anyway?
July 5, 2010 at 11:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
REWBA (anonymous) says...
The fireworks whistling, screeching, pop, boom and pow really didn't bother me too much. The noise that caused me the most discomfort was my spouses non-stop whining and bitching about the ignorant neighbors shooting fireworks in the rain. It got so bad at one point that I couldn't hear the dogs barking anymore. I really hope she doesn't read this. lol :-)
July 5, 2010 at 12:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
LOL REWBA, I'm gonna tell.
I thought I was the only one who did non-stop whining.
July 5, 2010 at 12:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefooting (anonymous) says...
The lights in the stadium were too much, I thought the fireworks would be more enjoyable without the lights. There wasn't as big a crowd as usual so I question whether or not the university can accommodate a larger crowd. What is the reason the fireworks moved from the fairgrounds?
July 5, 2010 at 12:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
I'm not supposed to say anything but the fairgrounds have been sold and they are going to build a Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Sam's Club, Home Depot, and several other smaller stores and shops there. That is why they moved it from the fairgrounds. That is the story I just made up anyway.
July 5, 2010 at 12:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
barefooting,
I can see your point about the stadium lights. I thought the better campus location to watch them would be the ESU football practice fields north of the HPER building.
I don't know why they were originally moved form the fairgrounds last year, but I was unimpressed with the move to the Jones Aquatic Center. In discussing the Twin Rivers Festival with Matt Slater last year, I suggested that it would be good to move them to the north end of town so they could be a part of the festival. My reasoning was that the street dance wouldn't have to shut down early so everyone could hurry up and clog the streets up on the west side of town, then hurry and jump in their cars trying to be the first one out at the first hint the show was over. I didn't get to be a part of the festival planning this year like I thought I might, so I have no idea if this came from my idea, or if it also occurred to someone else and they took action. I know that I originally anticipated a lot of foot and bike traffic that would have already been in the area for the street dance, causing traffic to be less congested. I also theorized that the variety of outlets from the viewing areas would make traffic more manageable for the police, but I haven't heard if that was true in practice. With the other events having been canceled, it's still hard to know for sure how it would've all fit together.
At any rate, I know there were several parking lots along E. 12th that were full of spectators. I would venture a guess that they were also spread out around Commercial and Merchant Street parking lots as well. I thought the traffic was much better spread out, but I wasn't down on campus, so I wanted to learn what others experienced. I heard there was an issue on 18th, but I didn't hear what it was.
July 5, 2010 at 1:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
We originally parked outside of town on a county road, my choice to avoid the traffic issues. I got out voted by the wife and kids who wanted to be closer to the display. We drove into the campus without much of an traffic issue, 18th/Merchant was busy, but we turned left into the campus by the old Butcher School without having to wait on traffic. We found decent parking stalls right along the West side of the stadium which surprised me as the show was about to start. We decided against the stadium due to the lighting and the fact that there was a large crowd of non-English speaking viewers waiting while listening to loud thumping "music". We walked to the North end of the Hyper building, thru the large crowd of non-English speaking head wrapped spectators that filled that area, down the hill to the edge of the parking lot below to stand and watch the show. My wife and kids could not be convinced we were actually closer to the display when we were outside the City limits at the first spot. We stood behind some students from SE Asia who chattered in their tongue the whole time wooooing and wowing with each explosion like everyone else while taking pictures. The display was great! Thanks to all that made it happen, specifically Clint Bowyer and the 79 Fund. The traffic wasnt bad at the end of the show, if you were smarter than the me firsters and waited for the idiots to leave.
Location was okay, I didn't have a problem with last years location either. They moved them away from the Fair Grounds because of insurance liability costs I bet. That's partly why the Jaycees quit doing them years ago when I was involved in it. The other reasons we stopped were people wanted to see them, but wouldn't help pay for them, and then there were people who were shooting fireworks towards us while working with the big display.
July 5, 2010 at 4:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kira002 (anonymous) says...
We also started out in the stadium, then moved over to North of HPER because of the lighting. I guess they needed the lights on in the stadium because of the wet bleachers.
Our one complaint was that whoever was in charge of timing the fireworks failed miserably. There were several stops and starts that had people wondering if it was over, then a "finale" that turned out to be at the halfway point, and what was with the turning the lights on and off? Was that supposed to mean "intermission"? Because most people thought it was the official signal that the show was over, so there were hundreds of people trying to leave AND watch the fireworks that started up again a few minutes later. Crazy.
Not sure why "neighbor" needed to point out all of the non-native English speakers, but I hope it was to show how diverse the crowd was for this "all-American holiday." That was a nice thing about having the show on campus; it was more accessible for our international students and gave plenty of options for viewing.
July 5, 2010 at 5:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefooting (anonymous) says...
I liked the campus better then the swimming pool for the fireworks, easier to see and less traffic concentrated in a small area. The lighting in the bleachers I m sure is to keep people from missing a step. I wonder if twin rivers could be moved to the campus at the bottom of Highland Hill with the fireworks afterwards, it would give the students a chance to be involved and the parking wasnt too big an issue. We spent time discussing the delays in the fireworks and best we could think was the electronic controls had gotten damp causing a problem with the firing.It was a good experience but I think this year we had a small turnout because of the weather and wonder if a bigger turnout would be a traffic issue. One difference in the campus and the fairgrounds is the fact that it was like sitting in a movie theater and when spectators were having conversations it was a little distracting, the kids kept checking to see which neighbor was talking and at the fairgrounds the fireworks were closer and louder meaning they held our attention better. We had a good time.
July 5, 2010 at 8:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Maybe we shouldn't allow fireworks anymore, considering this story:
By VALERIE STRAUSS WASHINGTON POST
July 5, 2010, 6:33AM WASHINGTON
A new poll gauging American knowledge on a basic question about the nation's history - "From which country did the United States win its independence?" - is either good news or bad news, depending on your expectations:
Twenty-six percent of those surveyed did not know that the United States achieved its independence from Great Britain, according to the poll that was conducted by the nonprofit Marist Institute for Public Opinion.
Six percent named a different country, including France, China, Japan, Mexico and Spain. Twenty percent said they weren't sure.
More depressing results - depending on your expectations - were found in a 2007 poll conducted by the U.S. Mint.
It showed that only 7 percent of those surveyed could name the first four presidents in order: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
What happedned to history/ government classes in school?
July 6, 2010 at 4:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mslater (Matt Slater) says...
"the fairgrounds have been sold and they are going to build a Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Sam's Club, Home Depot, and several other smaller stores and shops there"
That's where Wolf Creek is building their second reactor at too, just an FYI. Possibly the display musuem for the UFO that crashed at Roswell, although that is still in early discussions.
Making stuff up is FUN! :-D
Matt
July 6, 2010 at 8:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TexasGirl (anonymous) says...
I agree that the law will not be enforced anyway; this just basically gets law enforcement off the hook for a couple of days so people can't gripe that they aren't doing their job. And the "drunken imbeciles" will do what they want, when they want, regardless of what the law says.
This does allow us law abiding, educated citizens to take part in the festivities without having to find a place outside of town to do it. I have friends who live on the edge of town, and their road is always littered with debris the day after the holiday.
I like the location because I could see a good portion (the high ones) from my house. But the stops and starts were frustrating; I eventually lost interest. I would recommend that the actual festival not be held on a Sunday, so those of us who are active in their places of worship won't miss out.
July 6, 2010 at 11:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
kira, I was pointing out the irony of going to a patriotic celebration of USA history and citizenship yet the majority of those we encountered in attendence were very obviously not American citizens.
Timing was fine, people's herd mentality just kicked in when others began pulling out.
July 6, 2010 at 3:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HenryVIII (anonymous) says...
neighbor,
What made it so "obvious" that they weren't American citizens? The color of their skin? The music they listen to? The clothes they were wearing? Their preferred language?
1) Please tell me what color an American citizen's skin is.
2) Please tell me what music an American citizen listens to.
3) Please tell me what clothing an American citizen wears.
4) Please tell me what language an American citizen prefers to speak.
I didn't realize it was so easy to spot an American citizen and how specific the traits were. I sure hope I meet all your criteria or I might need to deport myself!
'enry
July 8, 2010 at 4:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
I talked to someonewho was involved with the fireworks show and they informed me that the show went off without a hitch. The "show" lasted 31 minutes exactly. However there were some duds that failed to ignite during that 31 minutes. That meant that the folks in charge had to go out, (after the show), and hand light the duds to safely dispose of them.
Hence the starts and stops.
And a great time was had by all !
July 8, 2010 at 8:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )