Winslow - Using fireworks could be breaking the law in Winslow pretty soon, even though there's a store in town that sells them.

The town council is considering a proposal to ban the use of fireworks, with the exception of a dozen days out of the year.

"The police department was overwhelmed with fireworks complaints," said Winslow and Waterville fire chief, David LaFountain. According to him, police have received about 100 noise complaints since the fireworks store, Pyro City, opened in town in June.

"A lot of people were complaining that it's constant, all day long noise that was driving them crazy," said LaFountain.

Now, the noise from residents has prompted LaFountain and three other city officials to come up with a solution: Ban the use of fireworks on all but twelve days out of the year, and restrict use on properties smaller than one acre.

"It was the assumption that that's when most people would want to set fireworks off, like Independence Day," said LaFountain.

LaFountain, who as fire chief admits he was against permitting them from the get go, was asked by the town council to come up with the proposal.

"There has to be a happy medium somewhere, allowing it sometimes, not allowing it at sometimes," said chairman of the council, Gerald Saint Amand.

The ban would be lifted on New Years Eve, New Years Day, Presidents Day, Patriots Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, July 3, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Winslow High School's graduation day.

Saint Amand said he felt the twelve day window was a bit restrictive, but understood the need for a change.

"For forty years, you had peace and quiet and no fireworks at all. To go from that to 365 days of unlimited use is also unreasonable," said Amand.

The council is expected to vote on the proposal within a couple of months.

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