Keeping watch on the fireworks

Ah, it's almost July 4, and that means one thing, year after year: People are buying fireworks like crazy, and officials are working like crazy to keep them from setting the fireworks off inside the city limits. And it's kind of a tough battle, the Chronicle reports: Getting people to save their fireworks until they get out of town can be a hard sell, "especially with weather like this," fireworks stand owner Tommy Hua said. "You don't want to go out of the house in the rain. You want to burn it right there [in your yard]." (We do recommend going out of the house to light your fireworks, though, just for the record.)

The question in all this, of course, is whether fireworks will be an issue at all, given the fact that the rainy season seems to be continuing right on into July this year. You can set fireworks off the rain, but it's not clear how many people would — but just in case, Houston arson investigator James Eli and fire inspector John Dunham are stressing the importance of celebrating appropriately. Setting off fireworks in the city limits and in certain areas of Harris County is a public safety issue, they said: The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that 11 kids died in fireworks-related accidents last year, and there were 9,000 visits to emergency rooms by kids who were injured by fireworks. "A lot of parents of young children think that a sparkler is safe because it's pretty," Eli said. "But a sparkler burns at 2,000 degrees. If a child touches a sparkler after it's gone out, it can cause second- or third-degree burns."

If you're planning to buy fireworks this year, remember that you can get a $2,000 ticket for bringing them inside the Houston city limits — and officials are watching. "We sit near fireworks stands and watch people buying fireworks, and we'll follow them a little while. If they don't drive into the city, then we go back to the fireworks stand. If they do, then we'll stop them," Eli said. Might be a good idea to just head down to the Freedom Over Texas festival downtown and spend that $2,000 on funnel cakes instead.