(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. - Nearly two-dozen people in Spokane went home with hefty fines following the Fourth of July festivities Wednesday.
The Spokane Fire Department wrote 22 citations for use of illegal fireworks. Tickets are $536 a pop.
In all, the City made $11,792 from these violations.
The sale and use of consumer fireworks were banned in Spokane in 1993. Firefighters say based on the number of firework-caused fires between 1983 and 1992, the fireworks ban has prevented an estimated 2,200 fires.
Firefighters also say they've responded to an average of five fireworks-caused fires between June 28 and July 6 each year, during the past 25 years (since the ban). That’s a huge decrease from average fireworks-caused fires during the same time period before the ban, which was 104.