Fireworks are displayed during the 2016 Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration. Kat Sorensen/Clarion file

Fireworks are displayed during the 2016 Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration. Kat Sorensen/Clarion file

City of Kenai allows for New Year’s Eve fireworks

Kenai is the only city in the borough exempt from a borough-wide ban.

Residents in Kenai city limits will be allowed to ring in the New Year with fireworks for a 48-hour period between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

The use of fireworks is forbidden in the Kenai Peninsula Borough unless they are part of a permitted display. Kenai is the only city in the borough exempt from the ban.

It will be the fifth year in a row the city allows its residents to engage in personal and private fireworks displays.

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During the 48-hour period, Kenai residents are allowed to light off any kind of fireworks. They must be shot from private property, with the consent of the owner. Fireworks are banned from any public land in the city, Jeremy Hamilton, city of Kenai Fire Marshall, said.

Residents should consider the risks of fireworks and take caution when using them. Residents should be mindful of neighbors, children and pets when choosing to light off fireworks.

“Use common sense,” Hamilton said. “Follow the manufacturer’s recommendation.”

The city began to allow fireworks within the limits of Kenai in 2015 when the city council passed an ordinance allowing for the 48-hour window around New Year’s.

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