Illegal New Year’s fireworks spark grass fires, dozens of assaults reported
Police are investigating three grass fires believed to be caused by illegal fireworks, following reports of hundreds of firework-related incidents overnight, as well as two teen stabbings on the coast.
More than 280 firework-related incidents were reported on Tuesday, prompting police to warn revellers against lighting illegal fireworks. It comes a week after a 19-year-old was killed by a firework and a 30-year-old woman suffered serious upper body injuries in separate incidents on Christmas Day.
New Year’s Eve fireworks as seen from the Shrine of Remembrance.Credit: Simon Schluter
On Tuesday, emergency services responded to a blaze in Glenroy, in the city’s north, about 4.30pm, where they located remnants of fireworks. At 9pm, another grass fire broke out in a paddock in Kurunjang, in Melbourne’s west, with witnesses telling police that four people had set off fireworks.
About an hour later, residents in Greenvale, in Melbourne’s north, reportedly heard fireworks before another grass fire was found there.
No injuries were sustained, but Victoria Police said fireworks carry the risk of serious injury or death and can create bushfires or damage property.
CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said there had been 50 incidents regarding the unauthorised use of fireworks, flares, and similar items in Victoria in the last financial year. More than half resulted in fires.
“With the fire activity we’ve already seen across the state, it’s more important than ever for people to remain vigilant and avoid behaviours that could spark fires,” said Heffernan in a statement.
According to Monash University’s Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit, 244 people presented at the state’s hospital emergency departments with fireworks-related injuries in the ten years up to June 2023.
