Waterford's Chief fire officer has warned about the dangers of fireworks after one was thrown at a fire crew here in the past week.
The incident happened at an undisclosed location in the city. The firework exploded amongst the crew and ricocheted against a locker on the appliance.
Chief Fire Officer Niall Curtin said: "We had a risk there of loss of limb, facial disfigurement, eye injuries, burns and scars - we had that risk to our fire crews from that explosion".
Serious damage can also occur to life-saving equipment rendering it useless for other emergencies which may occur, warned Niall.
Fireworks are already going off regularly around the city, despite Halloween being four weeks away.
Last Saturday night one was thrown over the back wall onto the Greyhound racing track at Kilcohan.
Security had to be deployed to stand near the back wall to try and prevent the greyhounds from getting injured, running the risk of themselves being injured.
WLR's racing commentator Mark Philips said it was a perennial problem at the track, he said "greyhounds can be badly injured or maimed", and that the dogs "are very sensitive to the noise".
Labour party Councillor Seamus Ryan, who lives close to Kilcohan Park, said he has raised the issue of illegal fireworks many times:
"it's a law and order issue, it's the illegal selling of fireworks, particularly, in this instance, they are being sold to youngsters - where are young people getting the money to buy these? But the key problem I have with this, is the effect it is having on the elderly in our community".
He said it was an issue in many Waterford estates such as Lisduggan, Larchville, and the Kilcohan area: "it's mainly young people doing it and causing havoc for people and for animals and pets".
Niall Curtin said the fire service dealt with the aftermath of these incidents and they were hugely concerning as the types of injuries fireworks cause include loss of limbs, facial disfigurement, burns and scars.
He said that fireworks seem to be being used earlier and more extensively this year and it can be seen around the country.
