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Fireworks Abuse Ignites Irritation

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By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: July 1, 2008

Abuse of fireworks in Pasco County yards usually lights the fuses on tempers of area residents every Fourth of July.

Despite complaints, officials say there is little they can do about individuals buying and setting off bottle rockets and other fireworks.

Even after a task force report in January, state lawmakers did not pass any fireworks legislation during the spring session. A loophole in the law allows people to buy fireworks for a limited number of uses, such as scaring birds away from crops.

So that means a statewide moratorium on local fireworks control remains in effect. That's the opinion the Florida Senate's general counsel, Jay Vail, gave to the staff of state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.

Before counties and cities could regain regulatory authority over fireworks sales and use, state lawmakers would have to repeal the moratorium, which went into effect March 8, 2007, Greg Giordano, chief legislative assistant to Fasano, said.

"As far as I know our hands are still tied," Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano said.

Mariano, however, would prefer a statewide solution to fireworks controls. If Pasco had its own fireworks regulations, Mariano said he thinks residents would travel to counties with less oversight on sales to purchase pyrotechnics.

"Believe me, I do not know the answer," Pasco County Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said.

The state moratorium stopped in its tracks a plan its backers hoped would, in effect, reduce the number of places fireworks could be sold, Hildebrand said.

"We tried to get Pasco exempt" from the moratorium. The county ordinance would have required fireworks vendors to sell their goods only in permanent buildings. Most fireworks sales in the county are conducted from roadside tents that sprout up around holidays, just before the Fourth of July, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

"There's nothing to do at this time," Hildebrand said of county control over fireworks.

"They go nuts on the Fourth of July," Henry Alwardt, a charter boat captain known as Capt. Blackbeard, said about fireworks fans along the canals in his Hudson-area neighborhood. He has witnessed neighbors firing bottle rockets at each other across canals.

"They start way before the Fourth of July with these bottle rockets; that's their favorite thing," he said.

"It's a bomb," Alwardt said about the gasoline tank on a boat if fireworks debris sets off the fuel. Many boaters ventilate gas tanks, releasing gas fumes that could be ignited by stray pyrotechnics, he said.

"All it takes is one bottle rocket and there's going to be a chain reaction" of boat fires, Alwardt said. He recalls incidents such as a barge fire in Key Largo sparked by fireworks.

"There'll be no putting it out" if a fiberglass boat catches fire, he said.

In addition, the noise from fireworks "scares the animals to death," Alwardt said about his pets.

He intends to stay on his boat far from shore for much of the holiday.

Fireworks were suspected of starting a garage fire in one case a few years ago, New Port Richey Fire Department Fire Marshal Alex Onishenko said.

Anything that shoots into the air is illegal, Onishenko said.

"It's really an exploitation of a loophole in the law," he said about fireworks abuses.

Last year, a fire in a fireworks tent in Port Richey injured two people, including a child.

Unlike impromptu backyard fireworks shows, extensive safeguards are taken at professional displays, reducing the potential for injury, Onishenko said.

Drought conditions in previous years have threatened to cancel even professional displays. There has been enough rainfall this year to allow the public fireworks shows to be presented, Onishenko said.

"It's dangerous for people to use the fireworks in their backyards," New Port Richey City Manager Thomas O'Neill said.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office typically fields many complaints about fireworks abuses.

The sheriff's office gets so many complaints, that it devotes considerable space on its Web site -

www.pascosheriff.com/Websmart/pasco/static/PCSO-Fi.... - to the topic.

Before the statewide moratorium, the sheriff's office on July 4, 2006 tried to enforce the fireworks law, the Web site says. Few pyrotechnics were confiscated, and only two criminal cases were made. The existing law is difficult to enforce because of loopholes. The deputy usually must witness someone using illegal fireworks to be able to write a citation.

FIREWORKS SAFETY TIPS

•Read and follow label directions.

•Have an adult present and use outdoors.

•Buy from reliable sellers.

•Have a garden hose or water bucket present.

•Never experiment or make your own fireworks.

•Light only one firework at a time.

•Never re-light a "dud" firework (wait 15 to 20 minutes, then soak it in a bucket of water).

•Never give fireworks to small children.

• Dispose of fireworks by soaking in water and throwing away.

•Never throw or point fireworks at people.

•Never carry fireworks in your pocket.

•Never shoot fireworks in metal or glass containers.

•Always wear eye protection and keep fireworks away from body.

FIREWORKS INJURIES

In calling for a ban on consumer fireworks sales, Prevent Blindness America offers these statistics on fireworks injuries:

•There were 9,200 emergency room-treated injuries associated with fireworks in 2006 (the latest year for which statistics are available), with about 6,400 occurring during the one-month period surrounding the July 4 holiday.

•Eyes were the second most commonly injured part of the body, with an estimated 1,500 fireworks-related eye injuries treated in the same month in 2006.

•Firecrackers accounted for 1,300 injuries, sparklers accounted for 1,000 injuries and Roman candles accounted for 700 injuries.

•Males suffered three times more injuries than females.

•Children younger that 15 accounted for 2,300 of the injuries.

•For children younger than 5, a third of the total injuries were from sparklers, which can burn up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

•An average of 400 Americans permanently lose vision in one or both eyes due to fireworks injuries annually.

Source: The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Council on Fireworks Safety.

EYE INJURY TIPS

If an accident occurs, here are steps to minimize the damage:

•Don't rub the eye. This may increase bleeding or make the injury worse.

•Don't rinse the eye. This can be more damaging than rubbing.

•Don't apply pressure to the eye. Try to prevent further contact with it.

•Head straight to the emergency room; don't stop for medicine. Over-the-counter pain relievers won't do much.

•Don't apply ointment. It may not be sterile and makes the area around the eye slippery and harder for a doctor to examine.

Source: Prevent Blindness America

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