Milwaukee's Common Council Public Safety and Health Committee voted Thursday to recommend passage of an ordinance that would let the city fine property owners, not just the people setting off illegal fireworks, when pyrotechnic activity happens on their land. The move comes as police fireworks calls have nearly doubled citywide over the past several years while citations have barely budged.
A New Legal Target: The Property, Not Just the Shooter
File #260551, authored by Ald. Peter Burgelis and cosponsored by Alds. Larresa Taylor, Mark Chambers Jr. and Sharlen P. Moore, would make owners, occupants, and others who control private property responsible when they permit unlawful fireworks activity there, according to Urban Milwaukee. The ordinance would also align Milwaukee's fireworks definition with state law. It now heads to the full Common Council on October 13.
“Neighbors should not have to spend their summer nights wondering whether the next explosion will start a fire,” Burgelis said, per the same report. He added that “fireworks complaints are persistent, and the potential consequences are serious,” and said Milwaukee residents deserve a practical response that protects their neighborhoods and holds people accountable for activity permitted on their property.
Why Citations Haven't Kept Pace With Complaints
The numbers behind the push are stark. Milwaukee police logged 461 dispatched fireworks calls in 2025, up from 261 in 2022, but issued only 23 citations that year. Through July 6 of this year, officers had already fielded 310 fireworks calls yet issued just 10 citations, the outlet's figures show.
Part of the gap traces to the city's existing rules: officers can only cite someone for illegal fireworks if they directly identify the violator and a complaining witness confirms that identification, according to the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. That witness-verification requirement has become a primary obstacle for MPD when it comes to citing individuals, even as emergency calls pile up. Burgelis first floated the idea of targeting property owners during a late-July Public Safety and Health Committee meeting, and MPD officials signaled they were open to working with council members on the concept before the ordinance was drafted.
Holiday Weekend Showed the Scale of the Problem
Over the July 4 and 5 holiday period this year, Milwaukee's 911 dispatch center fielded 775 fireworks-related calls, a 5% increase from the year before, while police issued only five citations between July 1 and July 5. That's down from 14 citations during the same window in 2025 and seven in 2024, the news service reported.
Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said his department identified three structure fires likely caused by fireworks during the July 3 and 4 shifts this year, along with dozens of fireworks-related emergency medical responses. Separately, the Milwaukee Fire Department responded to 99 fire-type calls and treated three minor burn injuries over that same stretch, while investigating two garage fires suspected of being fireworks-related in the 5200 block of N. 34th St. and the 2700 block of N. 55th St., according to the news service.
State Law and a History of Close Calls
Under current city code, illegal fireworks discharge or possession carries fines of $500 to $1,000, with non-payment punishable by up to 40 days in jail — penalties that apply citywide even when pyrotechnics were purchased legally outside Milwaukee. State law adds another layer: under Wisconsin Statute § 167.10, consumer devices that explode or leave the ground require a municipal permit, and illegal possession or sale can bring forfeitures up to $1,000 per violation. Local ordinances can be stricter than the state standard but cannot permit items state law prohibits.
The statute already carries a parallel for Milwaukee's new approach: parents who consent to or allow their minor children to use illegal fireworks face forfeitures up to $1,000 per violation and full civil liability for resulting property damage, the firm notes. File #260551 draws on that same logic, shifting responsibility onto landlords and occupants who permit pyrotechnic activity on their land rather than only the person who lights the fuse.
Milwaukee's citywide ban on amateur fireworks dates back to a 2006 Common Council task force formed after a pyrotechnic fire destroyed a local residence, according to the City of Milwaukee. That study concluded amateur fireworks use posed unreasonable dangers in dense city neighborhoods, a finding that still underpins the city's stricter stance compared with surrounding suburbs.
Statewide Injuries and Cross-Border Incidents
Wisconsin emergency rooms recorded 226 visits for fireworks injuries in 2025, with 58% occurring during the first week of July, according to state health department data cited by the news service. Milwaukee's own experience fits that statewide pattern of holiday-driven surges.
The risks aren't confined to city limits, either. In late June, two 17-year-old Milwaukee residents were arrested in neighboring West Allis after allegedly riding electric scooters and firing pyrotechnics at pedestrians under an overpass, with callers reporting that fireworks nearly detonated inside a bystander's car.
The ordinance comes amid fireworks-related structure fires and burn injuries. Still unresolved is exactly how MPD and the city's Department of Neighborhood Services will determine what counts as a property owner permitting fireworks activity, without penalizing landlords who had no idea what was happening on their land. If the full Common Council approves File #260551 on October 13, the ordinance would let Milwaukee pursue property owners alongside individual fireworks violators.
