Boats docked at the South Bay Marina. June 27, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Ahead of the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, the Green Bay Police Department and Green Bay Metro fire want to remind the public about proper boat and firework safety.
“The department gets a lot of calls for fireworks,” said Commander Kevin Warych with the Green Bay Police Department.
He stated that the fireworks should be left to the professionals.
“The fireworks, though they may seem innocent, and they may seem like, “oh, that seems like a good idea”, it really scares a lot of people in the community and it really causes a lot of disruption in the neighborhoods.” Warych continued.
“In very simple terms, any firework that leaves the ground is illegal.”
Lieutenant Shauna Walesh with Green Bay Metro Fire says it’s important to keep an eye on pets.
“Pets usually don’t like fireworks, so try to keep them in a safe secured room if you can and have them properly ID’d as well in case they happen to get out,” said Walesh.
GBPD Lieutenant Jordan Atlas also spoke about boating safety ahead of the celebrations.
“Members of the Green Bay Police Department, when we have contact with the public, we want them to be educated,” Atlas explained. “If we can educate people before they go out on the water that’s even better. We don’t want to have to stop and have somebody’s day go awry because they don’t have the proper safety equipment.”
The Green Bay Police Department says it’s crucial that boaters have a Personal Floatation Device for every passenger they plan on having aboard.
“You need your PFDs, we need PFDs for the passengers, we need PFDs that are going to fit the people that are going to be needing them,” Atlas suggested. “Just having safety devices that you haven’t checked, you haven’t looked at, that don’t fit or they’re old and out of repair, they’re not going to do anything.”
With the raised water levels because of recent rain, it’s also important to watch for items floating or semi-submerged in the water, and for those boating to go slow and stay observant for any debris.
The Wisconsin DNR says that there will be more officers patrolling the water nationwide due to the Operation Dry Water campaign.
The department also says that their police boats are like “squad cars on the water” and are designed to optimize the way they help people stay safe on the bay.
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