The Arlington fire department’s New Year’s Eve interactive webpage resulted in 163 calls of illegal fireworks use, city officials reported Jan. 4.
The webpage, which was up from 7 p.m. Dec. 31 to 3 a.m. Jan. 1, kept 911 phone lines open for emergencies. It’s illegal to use fireworks in the city, with a fine up to $2,000.
The same webpage resulted in 347 calls in 2021 and 22 in 2020, fire department spokesman Lt. Jasiel Zapata said.
Arlington police were dispatched to 100 calls for service related to shootings and reports of gunfire on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, police spokesman Tim Ciesco said Jan. 4.
The lone injury police are aware of, as it relates to celebratory gunfire, was a 12-year-old boy who was hit by a bullet, Ciesco said. The gunfire incident was was around 12:20 a.m., on Jan. 1, in the 200 block of Roberts Circle.
The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and has since been released, Ciesco added.
“Adult family members he was with told officers they went outside to watch fireworks and while they were standing there, the boy suddenly started complaining about being hit by something,” Ciesco said.
