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Fireworks use not celebration for all

Consumers skirt the law by signing a form, but some communities are stepping up enforcement efforts on proper use.

By EMILY ANTHES
Published July 2, 2005

TAMPA - The fireworks stand Alvin Harmening runs is his home away from home. Since June 16, he has been living in the sales tent he pitched at Waters Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. He spent hours arranging boxes of explosives, developing a detailed sales plan and trying to make everything "just perfect," he said.

Each night after closing, he settles in on a bare mattress on the dirt ground. He keeps all the necessities nearby: a change of clothes, a few gallons of bottled water, snacks and a cooler full of ice packs. When he does wander away from the tent, it's often to use the portable toilet a few yards away.

It seems like Harmening is sacrificing a lot to ensure that Floridians have the supplies they need to keep birds away from their fish hatcheries.

Because, if anyone asks, that's what his customers are doing with the "Black Cat Aerial Show," "Loud and Rowdy" and "Block Buster" fireworks they're buying from him.

State law forbids setting off fireworks that fly or explode, but makes exceptions for a few select purposes, including rock quarrying, railroad signaling and shooing birds away from fish hatcheries.

The approach of this year's July Fourth holiday highlights the complicated tangle of laws surrounding fireworks in Florida. Some areas, such as Pinellas County, have found their own ways of cracking down on firecrackers that go beyond state law. A few beach towns intend to get tough with enforcement, while other large agencies all but concede enforcement is impossible. Those mixed messages can make it difficult to keep track of how not to get burned by fireworks laws.

Technically, almost all fireworks are illegal in Florida under a blanket policy that the state Fire Marshal's Office said is relatively straightforward. While sparklers and a few other "novelties" are legal, anything else is forbidden.

"If it launches or explodes, it's illegal in Florida for general consumers," said Nina Banister, a spokeswoman for the Fire Marshal's Office.

The illegal use of fireworks in Florida is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. But residents have made a habit of exploiting the law's exemptions in order to ensure personal pyrotechnic shows.

Local vendors allow customers to purchase fireworks if they sign a waiver promising to use fireworks for one of the approved purposes.

It's a trend that troubles fire safety advocates.

"The fireworks industry is blatantly flouting the law and taking advantage of loopholes," said Larry Scovotto, the executive director of the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association.

Even consumers who sign the waiver are still breaking the law if they set their fireworks off recreationally, Scovotto said. And users are still liable if their fireworks injure someone or destroy property, Banister said.

Pinellas County got tougher than the state in 2003, passing a stricter fireworks ordinance; this year will mark the second July 4 it has been in effect. The county requires fireworks buyers to have a permit from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and fireworks vendors to keep records of their customers' permits. The new ordinance didn't change the rules for using fireworks, but it made it harder to buy them. At least in Pinellas.

Neighboring Pasco and Hillsborough counties have no such ordinances, and there's nothing to stop Pinellas residents from buying their fireworks in these counties and then returning home. (Pasco recently rejected the idea of a fireworks ordinance similar to the one in place in Pinellas.)

Sharon Hunnewell-Johnson, the president of Galaxy Fireworks, said she is sur e that her Pasco County stores and stands are getting Pinellas customers.

"If people want fireworks, they're going to go where they can get them," Hunnewell-Johnson said. "If they can't get them in Florida, they'll get them on the Internet. If they can't get them in Pinellas, they'll come to Pasco."

Concerned about the relative ease with which consumers can buy fireworks, some communities are trying harder to regulate use.

For the second year, North Redington Beach will hire a sheriff's deputy to patrol the beaches on July 4 and enforce the fireworks ban. In past years, the town's beaches have been left littered with exploded fireworks and debris following the holiday, prompting last year's stepped-up enforcement. Its success persuaded the town to take the same steps again, said Commissioner Curtis Blocker. Nearby Redington Beach also decided to take similar actions this year.

Such local initiatives are vital in curbing illegal fireworks sales and use, Scovotto said.

[Last modified July 2, 2005, 01:21:22]