OCEAN CITY, Md. - The Ocean City Fire Department is looking for help identifying the person responsible for a dune fire Saturday night between 116th and 117th streets.
Fire officials say the fire started around 9:20 p.m. and burned a significant amount of dune grass along the beach.
(Mark Piarulli)
Deputy Fire Marshal Allison Lecates with the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office said investigators determined the fire was caused by illegal fireworks.
“So there was a significant fire in the dunes between 116th and 117th Street Saturday night,” Lecates said. “We do know it was caused by illegal fireworks. Our office is still attempting to locate the person responsible for this.”
Lecates said anyone with information, pictures or videos is asked to contact the fire marshal’s office.
“Anything we can get is helpful,” Lecates said.
Fire officials say dune grass is key to helping protect the coastline from erosion and storm impacts. Lecates said the dunes are especially important in Ocean City because they help protect nearby buildings during hurricanes, nor’easters and other major weather events.
“Those dunes are very important, as well as they are a habitat for a lot of the wildlife that call Ocean City their home as well,” Lecates said.
Lecates said dune grass is dry by nature, and recent drought conditions have made the risk even higher.
“We haven’t had much rain here on Delmarva, which makes our grass even drier,” Lecates said. “So fireworks get from anywhere to 1,000 to 3,000 degrees, so that very quickly and easily will ignite that very dry grass and spread very fast, as we saw Saturday night.”
Lecates said poppers and sparklers are allowed in Ocean City, but ground-based fireworks, fireworks that shoot into the air, and fireworks that emit showers of sparks are illegal. She said violations can start with a $1,000 citation, and some larger fireworks can be an arrestable offense.
With the Fourth of July holiday approaching, Lecates said fire officials want people to enjoy Ocean City safely and leave fireworks to the town’s organized shows.
“We want everybody to come into town and enjoy our town,” Lecates said. “But we want everyone to be as safe as possible.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information, photographs or video footage is asked to contact Investigator David Marquez with the Ocean City Fire Department at dmarquez@oceancitymd.gov.
(Erin Ross)
