It’s illegal, but participants say CoMo “Fireworks War” is on
Tyronne and DJ have been participating in the so-called “Fireworks War” every Fourth of July for years. For them, it’s fun.
“Dangerous but fun,” Tyronne said. “Ain’t [sic] nobody died yet.”
The war has happened on Fourth of July for about two decades. There’s even a documentary about it and it’s getting more viral every day.
The boys, who only gave ABC 17 News their first names, said if someone gets hurt, it’s because they were being reckless.
“It’s about how smart you are when you’re doing it,” DJ said. “Most of the time, people don’t even get hit. They burn themselves trying to hit somebody.”
Everyone participating knows it’s illegal. Ahmonta Harris, who runs the whole thing, posted a message on his Facebook page laying out rules that included how to stay safe and how to clean up the neighborhood the day after.
Columbia police officers have been going door-to-door reminding people about the city’s fireworks ordinances. It’s illegal to possess fireworks or fire them inside the city limits.
Sgt. Mike Hestir warned that the type of fireworks used are the ones shot into the sky during big shows, and are dangerous at close range, especially when shot at someone else.
“When they’re intentionally shooting them back and forth, burns, eye injuries and house fires have happened,” he said. “We don’t want it to happen because we don’t want people to get hurt or for them to break the law.”
But it’s happening and has been a Fourth of July staple for decades. The whole thing usually goes down near Bodie Drive, but there’s some talk that the whole thing might move to a different location. The time it happens isn’t even public. DJ and Tyronne didn’t share the details but said they were ready.
“Pretty much you get out there and whoever likes sparking up, sparks up and it just goes from there, and we war,” he said.
When faced with the dangerous aspect of it, along with the illegality, DJ said he’d rather face fireworks than guns.
“Think about it,” he said. “Most of the time in CoMo, people don’t like each other so they fight but imagine everybody who had a problem coming in this war and getting their anger off with something that’s fun, without hurting nobody.”
They said when it comes to the danger and illegality of it, people know what they’re getting into. DJ and Tyronne said they won’t shoot at anyone who isn’t participating.
“If you see us shooting, get out of there,” the boys said.
