People were getting too close to fireworks display in Guelph: organizer

Apparently, some people wanted to get a closer look at the New Year’s Eve fireworks display in Guelph — too close for one of the organizers.

Shirley Fowley of NorthStar Fireworks told Global News that she and her team saw a number of people getting around a caution tape that surrounded an area of Riverside Park where the fireworks were set off.

She said the tape was put across a footpath Sunday night as they loaded the fireworks into the mortars.

Hundreds gathered at the park on Sunday night to see the fireworks display and ring in the new year at midnight.

Fowley said it was especially concerning to see people walk into the area of the fireworks display after the show had ended. She said they are required to wait 30 minutes in case any shells misfire or if one of the cake boxes containing the fireworks catches fire.

“The shells we fire are very powerful bombs,” Fowley said, adding that people were putting themselves in harm’s way by breaching the taped-off area.

“They have the potential to go 400 to 600 feet in the air and explode to a radius of 50 to 100 yards. If by chance one has not fired properly, there is the possibility of it doing great damage.”

Guelph Police Service officers were on hand at the event. Media co-ordinator Scott Tracey said in an email to Global News that they received no complaints about anyone trespassing in the area of the fireworks display at the time of the fireworks show.

He said the fireworks were set off on the east side of the park while most of the officers that were on duty were at the west side where the crowds were.