Fire chief in Abington cancels July 4 fireworks

ABINGTON, Mass. -- Abington residents looking forward to celebrating on July 4 will have to do so without fireworks.
Fire Chief Arthur Pelland says the town's annual fireworks display will not be held this year because he doesn't have enough firefighters to cover the event and respond to any other emergencies in the community.
Pelland told the Brockton Enterprise that he could not "in good conscience" issue a permit to the fireworks vendor.
Abington currently has 20 firefighters, compared to 42 in 1970. It has eliminated all 21 on-call firefighters since 2003. The town -- some 20 miles south of Boston -- had about 16,300 residents in the 2007 census.

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