Fire Marshal Offers Fireworks Safety Advice

By Rachael Dickson (Contact)

Thursday, July 3, 2008

This Fourth of July, Loudoun County Fire Marshal Keith Brower has one thing to say: Don't bring illegal fireworks into the community.

"Most of the new communities are like war zones," Brower said.

Illegal fireworks, brought in from out of state, remain a large problem in Loudoun, said Brower. All fireworks that explode, rise into the air, travel laterally on the ground, or shoot projectiles into the air are banned in Virginia.

Monday evening, in Cascades, an 8-year old boy was severely burned by fireworks, which were believed to have ignited his shirt while he was holding them. Last year, a fire started by fireworks in Loudoun traveled from one home into a neighbor's yard, setting the grass and fence on fire. Another year, a small child was struck by an illegal firework and burned severely in the groin area.

"It's a substantial problem that clearly outweighs our ability, either through education or enforcement," Brower said. "We can't enforce it. The laws are either ignored or not paid attention to. Some people don't know, but more often, a lot of people know and just choose not to obey the law."

"People come up all the time to buy bottle rockets or firecrackers," said Patricia Saikin, co-owner of Fireworks Now, a locally based business that operates five locations in Loudoun and five others throughout Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. Bottle rockets and firecrackers are both types of fireworks that are banned in Virginia. A worker at one of the Fireworks Now stands, Travis Arnold, said that customers often ask if there's a secret stash of illegal fireworks under the counter.

When that happens, Saikin sends them to her West Virginia location. According to that state's law, fireworks that would be illegal to sell in Virginia can be sold to out-of-state residents, but not West Virginia citizens.

"It's perfectly legal for me to sell the fireworks to them," Saikin said, adding that the company was not responsible for what the customers do with the fireworks after buying them.

Saikin said that she understands why the laws on fireworks exist.

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Claudia Thompson-Deahl sells fireworks from a TNT stand on E Market Street in Leesburg. (Rachael Dickson)

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Fireworks being sold at a Fireworks Now stand on Catoctin Circle in Leesburg. (Rachael Dickson)

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"We hear some crazy strange things that people do with fireworks," she said. "However, I do want to say -- more people get hurt and die in swimming pools than with fireworks. Used the way they should be used, they're not dangerous."

According to Brower, the primary focus of the Fire Marshal's Office on the Fourth of July is at the public fireworks displays. The set-up at the shows is inspected both before and after the display, and officials stand by during the show for backup.

"Our main mission is to make sure that the public display sites are safe," Brower said. "Consequently, we don't have a lot of people to put on the street and in the community to enforce the fireworks laws."

Brower says a very small number of people will call the Fire Marshal's office and surrender illegal fireworks, under a policy that criminal charges will not be filed against those who give over illegal fireworks peacefully. Illegal fireworks are usually surrendered when the officials go out into the communities.

"If we come into your community and you're using those -- if you just give them to us, we're not going to charge you," Brower said. "Where we charge people is if they argue with us or are blatantly using them."

Brower said that the fireworks that are allowed in Virginia, though still dangerous if used improperly, have not been a significant problem in the past.

"We really don't have that many problems with permissible fireworks," Brower said. "They're more of a visual effect than they are explosive."

Advice from Brower for using permissible fireworks safely:

• Know what is not allowed with permissible fireworks. You cannot fire them on public roadways and cannot bring any firework into a park site. You should only light fireworks on private property where you have the permission of the owner.
• Wet the area down where you're going to set the fireworks off before and after you do it.
• Remember that alcohol and fireworks do not mix. Period.
• When small children are playing with fireworks, there should always be plenty of adult supervision. This rule particularly applies to the much-loved sparkler.
• When using ground-based devices, such as fountains, the crowd should be 15 feet away. A fountain can shoot up to 16 feet in the air and still be legal. If it tips over, it's going to shoot out 16 feet. Keep the crowd away so there's less of a risk of a firework ejecting hot material into a crowd.
• Most of these fireworks are basically pyrotechnic material that's packed into cardboard. The heat of the pyrotechnic material is hot enough to light the cardboard on fire. After you're done lighting them, put all your used fireworks in a metal can, wet them down, and keep them away from the house until the next morning. Wait until the next day to throw them out.
• If a firework doesn't go off, keep away from it, as it may still set off. Wet it down with a garden hose and let it sit undisturbed for at least an hour before removing.

Tagged: fireworks, Fourth of July, Loudoun County Fire/Rescue

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