Nassau County says it is cracking down on the issue of illegal fireworks across the area.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran was joined by Nassau County police and representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Consumer Affairs and the SPCA at a press conference Thursday.

Officials say there has been a recent spike in fireworks this year, and say it presents a danger to not only safety but to pets and veterans with PTSD.

"Any reports of illegal fireworks can be reported to the county. If you would like to report a sale of illegal fireworks, you can report to fireworkssales@nassaucountyny.gov," says Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.

According to police, they have seen 1,277 complaints in the last few weeks, a 400% increase from the same time last year.

"People have been cooped up and are out there enjoying themselves. Fireworks are illegal and the most dangerous injury to kids is sparklers," says Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.

Ryder says police will be out enforcing the issue and are reminding residents that lighting consumer grade fireworks is a felony and commercial fireworks is a misdemeanor.

"I know a lot of people are disappointed that organized fireworks are canceled because of the pandemic. But there are a lot of other fun things to do in the county," says Curran.

Nassau officials held a demonstration Thursday, demonstrating the power of fireworks, including putting an M80 inside a watermelon. They usually hold similar demonstrations ahead of Independence Day, but the uptick in complaints put extra importance behind it.

"We have more officers than we had at this time last year right now and we just graduated the class two weeks ago, so they will be out there, they will be doing the enforcement," says Ryder.

Communities across Long Island see explosion in use of illegal fireworks