Lower Paxton Township supervisors have banned public fireworks displays after four stray shells turned up in Koons Park in Linglestown two weeks after a July 3 fireworks show.

One shell detonated under a township mower July 17; the operator was not hurt.

Supervisors said they’ll reconsider the ban if they can be convinced that pyrotechnics can go on safely, but a fireworks show slated for Labor Day weekend in George Park has been canceled.

Mike Kraska, president of Linglestown Fire Company, which sponsored the July 3 display, appealed to the board Aug. 14. The annual Independence Day display “brings Linglestown together” and is one of the most popular fireworks show in the area, Kraska said.

The board’s decision is for safety and is “not punitive against Linglestown,” said Chairman William Hawk.

“Put a hold on planning for next year until we figure out what happened,” said Supervisor David Blain. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to ensure the safety of the public.”

Kraska said he can’t understand how four softball-sized objects could escape the notice of three different crews that scoured the park after the event, as well as all the people who used the park between July 4-17.

Kraska said he was “stopping short of saying these were not ours,” but said he thinks “it’s possible private citizens can get fireworks as large as public displays.”

Reports after the incident said fire department volunteers and employees of SkyShooters, the professional pyrotechnics firm that conducted the display, searched the park with flashlights and fire truck lights right after the July 3 show.

Police and public works employees also searched the morning of July 4, and fire company volunteers made a third sweep later that day. No live shells were found.

Police reported that public works employee Chris Bailor was mowing a field between ball fields close to Balthaser Street July 17 when he detonated the first stray shell. A township report said it was the first time the field had been mowed after the July 3 fireworks.

Police said Bailor walked the field after the explosion and found “two ball-like objects with two fuses coming out both sides” around the legion field and outfield fence.

The responding officer found another similar object in the same vicinity. A search of the area with bomb-sniffing dogs later that day turned up no more un-detonated shells, and no more have been found since.

In nine years of fireworks sponsored by Linglestown Fire Company, only one unexploded shell has ever been found before, Kraska said. That was in 2004, the day after the event, on the Koons Park basketball court.

He said Linglestown Fire Company takes extraordinary measures to ensure safety, and has met with SkyShooters to devise even stronger safety procedures.

In a letter to the township parks department, SkyShooters’ owners said they removed all similar shells from their inventory and won’t use that brand again. They said they have increased spotters at their shows to detect unexploded shells.