Boom on the 4th of July
Safety groups: Treat fireworks with caution
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Michael Dutton, Anne Young and Mike Mahoney work on the Foxcroft Farm Harvest Program’s float for the Brandon Fourth of July parade today. See the calendar on page C5 or at www.rutlandherald.com/calendar for plenty more things to do on the holiday weekend. Benedict Hudson / Rutland Herald |
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By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER - Published: July 4, 2009
Police and state fire marshal officials are urging Vermonters to be careful with the things that go pop this July Fourth.
Stores that sell fireworks aren't held accountable for injuries people sustain from using them, like burns, eye injuries and the loss of fingers, and this year police generally aren't taking any additional proactive measures to confiscate them outside of responding to neighbors' complaints, according to Michael Greenia, assistant state fire marshal and fire safety education coordinator with the Vermont Division of Fire Safety.
But the division is warning firework fans that the explosives are still illegal in the Green Mountain State and those found using display fireworks could be fined and even face up to 30 days behind bars — if they don't have a municipal permit.
Display fireworks are described as anything lit or explosive that shoots up from the ground.
Sparklers and small novelty firecrackers that only smoke are legal in Vermont due to a law change in 2003 but police and the division are advising Vermonters to use them at their own risk.
The possibility of accidental injury is an ever-present danger when using explosives, whatever their size, according to firework regulators and the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
More than 9,000 firework-related injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms in the United States in 2006, according to the association, and the eyes were the second most commonly injured body parts with an estimated 1,500 injuries — mostly from bottle rockets, erratically-flying July 4 paraphernalia usually lit and shot out of glass bottles.
Although the division doesn't know how many firework-related injuries there have been in the state, this is the first year it will track burns and other injuries sustained from fireworks to better account for it, Greenia said.
According to Greenia, only six states in the country permit sparklers only — Vermont, Illinois, Maine, Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania.
Seven states ban fireworks altogether, he said.
"One kid blew off part of his hand off with an M-80," Greenia said, referring to an educational video he uses to show teens the danger of fireworks.
"The other thing to remember is even if they are legal fireworks, the person shooting them off can be held liable for property damage (on other people's property)."
Because of increased demand on police on the Fourth, the public is largely on their own to make sure they light up permitted fireworks safely or face the consequences, Greenia said.
On Vermont border towns such as Hartford, firework violations aren't rampant even though firework sales are legal in neighboring New Hampshire, according to Deputy Police Chief Lenny Roberts.
As of Wednesday, the department hadn't confiscated any fireworks from residents and police don't intend to make any arrests in the days leading up to July 4.
"We go to the person's house and tell them to stop," Roberts said. "We try not to arrest people unless it's absolutely necessary … it's usually cease and desist."
Phantom Fireworks in Hinsdale, N.H., two miles over the border from Brattleboro, was bustling Wednesday — the parking lot filled with cars, some tagged with Vermont license plates. Store representatives, who declined to give their names, said they advise customers to refer to their local fire departments before lighting up any fuses and have a notice posted on the door saying just that.
Down the road in Hinsdale, Fantasy Fireworks' business is slightly down because of the economy, according to owner Jarrad Savinelli, but no matter how many customers walk through the door, each one has access to information for safely using the fireworks they purchase.
There's no way for Savinelli to regulate where the fireworks are set off after they are purchased but there is a way for him to know who is buying them.
"If they are out of New Hampshire state they are illegal … but you have to be 21 to purchase fireworks," he said, noting he and his employees check customers' identification with each purchase.
Savinelli said all of the products he sells are from reputable brands that distribute products checked by the National Council on Fireworks Safety, a federal regulatory body.
Next to each register is a stack of memos— 14 tips and guidelines for safely using fireworks, Savinelli said.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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