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Warrenton resident urges restrictions after what she calls hazardous fireworks debris
Summary
A Warrenton resident told the Board of Aldermen that repeated private fireworks use left hazardous debris and property damage at her home and on neighborhood streets and asked the city to change its ordinance.
Debbie Brown, a Warrenton resident since 2007, told the Warrenton Board of Aldermen on July 15 that private fireworks set off in her neighborhood have caused property damage and left hazardous debris in yards and gutters. "If it comes down and hits somebody, what's gonna happen?" Brown asked during the public-comment period. She said her husband, who is undergoing cancer treatment, can no longer clean debris and that rooftops and gutters remain littered with mortar and other fragments after recent displays. Brown showed photos and a one‑minute video excerpt at the meeting to illustrate the damage and noise she described.
Brown said the problem has grown worse over the past four or five years and that debris from this year's displays was "worse than we've ever experienced." She also described a large open drum with a blazing fire in the cul‑de‑sac and said it posed an emergency‑access hazard. The resident asked the aldermen to consider changing the city's ordinance to restrict or prohibit private fireworks use in yards and on city streets.
Alderman Waite visited Brown's neighborhood on Saturday at Brown's request and, Brown said, "was shocked when she seen the damage to the street and all the debris in our yard." The alderman's visit and conversations with neighbors and Brown's husband, Mike, were mentioned as part of Brown's request that the city take the issue under consideration.
Mayor and aldermen did not take immediate formal action. Mayor invited Brown to leave contact information with city staff so she can be included in future discussions and said the matter would be taken under consideration and placed on a future workshop agenda. There was no ordinance text presented or vote on changes to the city's fireworks rules during the meeting.
The remarks occurred during the public‑comment portion of the July 15 meeting rather than during a formal agenda item; the board did not record any motion, direction to staff, or vote on fireworks restrictions that evening.
