In the center of Prague, the use of fireworks has been banned since 2020, but even this did not prevent people from using them in large quantities on Wenceslas Square at the stroke of midnight on the last day of 2022. Rockets and cannons also flew in the rest of the metropolis, including, for example, the embankments, where the ban also applies.

Before midnight, the celebrations in the center of the metropolis were peaceful, even though the police dealt with, among other things, an attack on a police officer or the damage of about 30 windows in the inner block with cannon fire. Otherwise, however, according to police officers, firefighters and rescuers, the night does not deviate from the norms of New Year’s Eve celebrations from the time before the coronavirus pandemic. Their spokesmen told ČTK.

According to the spokeswoman of the Prague police, Violeta Siřišťová, the police went out to about five hundred cases on Saturday and today until around 0:30. Until midnight in the city center, the units imposed fines for violating the ban on the use of fireworks, around midnight there were already so many people violating the ban that it was impossible to handle it all at once.

On Wenceslas Square, they also dealt with a case of an assault on a police officer, who ended up in hospital. In Ve Smečkách Street, someone broke more than thirty windows in the courtyard with fireworks.

Prague fire department spokesman Martin Kavka told ČTK that this year’s first call was six minutes after midnight, and it concerned a small dry grass fire. According to him, this year’s night is fundamentally no different from other New Year’s Eve celebrations before the coronavirus pandemic. As an interesting point, the spokesman stated that the firefighters had to go to Malešice after midnight, where two people climbed the chimney and could not get down.

Even Jana Poštová, the spokeswoman for the Prague rescuers, did not assess tonight as exceptionally difficult under the circumstances. She added, however, that injuries related to pyrotechnics usually do not appear until after midnight, even if the first responders have noticed them. According to Poštová, the paramedics treated six people in the Golem rescue van, which was parked on Wenceslas Square, until around 0:30.

Before midnight, the sounds of pyrotechnics could be heard rather exceptionally in the center, although in the rest of the capital people had been setting them off since New Year’s morning, and as the end of the year approached, the frequency increased. Ten minutes before midnight, the traditional “war zone” broke out on Wenceslas Square, which was supposed to prevent the ban on fireworks adopted almost three years ago.

According to the rationale used by the political representation at the Prague municipality, which is now ending, at the time of acceptance, it is primarily to protect animals. Before the end of this year, the city prepared a campaign to remind the citizens of Prague and visitors to the metropolis of the ban.

New Year’s Eve celebrations are added to the Prague rescuers every year. This year, too, they strengthened their presence in the center of the metropolis. A Golem rescue truck was waiting for any injured people on Wenceslas Square, and ambulances were stationed in the center. Hundreds of police officers supervised the security.

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