Local law enforcement agencies remind people of Indiana's fireworks laws

ELKHART, Ind. -- The Fourth of July is fast approaching, and local law enforcement agencies are reminding everyone once again to pay attention to the fireworks laws.

It's that time of year again. For a little while now, you've been seeing the sky lit up with beautiful colors, followed up with the scent of smokey charcoal You've been hearing loud pops and bangs, many of you describing some of them as sounding like bombs and feeling the explosion in your chest. You'll be hearing fireworks for at least another week.

For all Hoosiers, the dates and times you can light them off are the same.

Michael Culp, Captain of Administrative Services at the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office, hopes people will still follow the law.

"So, from 10 o’clock to midnight in the unincorporated areas of Elkhart County, you can discharge your fireworks but also throughout the course from the 29 through July 9, until two hours after sunset. After that, then you have to cork it off," said Culp.

June 29 through July 9 you can have your fun from 5 p.m. until two hours after sunset. Except on July 4th, fireworks are allowed from 10 a.m. to midnight. Culp encourages everyone to be considerate of their neighbors.

"The reason it’s important to enforce the law is because there’s a lot of complaints. If you notice, people talk about their pets, people with PTSD, people who have sensitivity to the loud noises and so that can raise a lot of anxiety and cause a lot of problems for folks' pets, livestock, etc. but there’s also the issue of it's really hot, things are really dry and so there could also be issues with fires, grass fires, those kinds of things."

He also tells everyone to be careful. You don't want a time of celebration to end with you receiving a citation or worse.

"Property getting damaged because of negligence with setting off fireworks, that could definitely happen. Injuring people in instances where people are being just blatantly dangerous or negligent."

He says the law is in place for everyone to have fun and be safe.

There are a number of July 4th celebrations taking place across Michiana this weekend. You can find those events here.