By Dan Horn
Enquirer staff writer

A long weekend of Fourth of July celebrations left at least a dozen Greater Cincinnatians with fireworks-related injuries.

Law enforcement and hospital officials say most of the injuries occurred when private, back-yard-style pyrotechnic shows went awry, injuring hands or faces.

The most serious injury occurred Sunday night in Monroe Township when Tony Niederhelman suffered burns and cuts to his face. Clermont County sheriff's officials said the incident occurred at a party when a firework exploded.

Niederhelman, 18, of Milford, was taken by Air Care to University Hospital and released early Monday, hospital officials said.

"It again illustrates the dangers of fireworks," said Clermont County Sheriff A.J. "Tim" Rodenberg. "It's like playing with a bomb."

A check of area hospitals found that at least a dozen other, less serious injuries were related to fireworks.

"We're always busy this time of year," said Pat Samson, spokeswoman for the Health Alliance, which includes five hospitals from Northern Kentucky to Hamilton. "Fireworks injuries are always serious."

Nationwide, about 8,800 people are hurt each year in fireworks accidents and nearly 40 percent of those injuries are to the head.

Law enforcement officials said the number of injuries locally was typical for the holiday, as was the number of nuisance calls related to private fireworks displays. Hamilton County dispatchers recorded 133 such calls Sunday.

Most of those calls, however, did not involve arrests and many did not require a police response.

"By the time we get there, they're usually gone or the show is over," said Detective Jim Wergers of the Delhi Township Police Department.

Like many police on the holiday, Delhi's officers usually ask people to stop illegal displays and, as long as they comply, rarely make arrests. With only three officers on duty, Wergers said, the department has no other choice.

"The problem is so many going off at once," he said. "If you arrest the first three people you see, we'd have no one left to respond to a true emergency."