The North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the Town of Chapel Hill are urging residents to follow safety tips this July Fourth.

According to Fire Marshall Tommy Gregory, the safest way to celebrate is by attending the public fireworks display at Kenan Stadium rather than attempting to host your own.

“Small, consumer fireworks burn at very hot temperatures and can be extremely dangerous with the potential to cause life-changing injuries,” says Gregory. “If you do use sparklers and other fireworks that are legal in Chapel Hill, do so in a safe space with adequate options to extinguish them.”

On top of fireworks safety, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood stressed that regular grill maintenance and supervision of children around pools is of utmost importance at July Fourth cookouts.

“It doesn’t take but just a little bit of water and a short amount of time to have somebody’s life over,” says Blackwood.

Increased travel and alcoholic consumption make the highways more dangerous this holiday as well. The State Highway Patrol urges citizens to arrange for designated drivers or alternate transportation if they are planning to consume alcohol.

“Losing just one life from a needless collision involving an impaired driver is simply inexcusable,” says commander of the State Highway Patrol Colonel Glenn McNeill Jr.

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