When a resident called Edgecomb Selectman Stuart Smith from her River Road home last week, Smith could hear fireworks popping over the phone. That’s why she was calling.

Smith described the woman as being “very upset” by the sounds she said were coming from a nearby property. But from what he could tell, there was nothing illegal going on. It was within the hours the state has set for consumer use of fireworks. “I felt for her,” he said.

Fire Chief Roy Potter has gotten about half a dozen fireworks complaints this month. Responding to the complaints is his responsibility because the town doesn’t have its own police department, he said. Potter told selectmen local rules on fireworks use would make handling the complaints “a lot easier” for him. At his request, the town’s ordinance committee, on which Potter serves, will be drafting rules for voters to consider, he said.

The selectmen were glad to hear it. They said they don’t want to ruin people’s fun in using fireworks, but that there are other considerations too, such as the town’s elderly population and residents with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It is kind of startling when you hear them go off,” Chairwoman Jessica Chubbuck said. She would like the ordinance to set a distance at which the discharging of fireworks would require notification of abutters.

If it’s ready in time, the fireworks ordinance could go to a vote at a special town meeting as soon as September, selectmen said. The board already has tentative plans for one that month on another matter.