Counties Act on Sparkler Legislation

By Chief David Winzig
Chairman, NYSAFC Government Affairs Committee

On November 21, 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed bill S.7888/A.10141, which enacted Chapter 477 of the Laws of 2014. This new law will exclude sparklers from the definition of "dangerous fireworks."

For years the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, along with our other state association partners, have worked hard to keep all dangerous fireworks out of the hands of children. NFPA and other statistics demonstrate the many serious injuries to children, especially around July Fourth and other holidays.

It has always been the position of NYSAFC to fight for the safety and protection of the public and all of our state’s firefighters and EMS personnel. Enacting local laws allowing for the use of sparklers is a step backward.

Many county chiefs associations are taking action, urging their county legislative bodies NOT TO ENACT a local law allowing for the use of sparklers.

Please read the following position statement from NYSAFC. Feel free to use it as part of your presentation to your county legislators encouraging them NOT TO ALLOW the use of dangerous fireworks. Your actions will help keep our children and first responders safe.

Position Statement from the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs:

On behalf of the nearly 11,000 members of the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs, which represents both career and volunteer fire chiefs throughout New York state, we are writing to urge you to reject any proposal for a local law to be adopted allowing for the exclusion of certain fireworks from the definition of "dangerous fireworks."

For several years, the manufacturers of fireworks have sought state legislation that would exempt certain fireworks devices from Penal Law Section 405 (5) (b) defining dangerous fireworks. Due to opposition from many groups, especially the fire service, this statewide exemption was never passed. In 2014, manufacturers were able to get Chapter 477 enacted into law, which does not allow for the elimination of the statewide ban, but instead allows counties and cities to adopt a local law allowing for the use of these dangerous devices during a specified period around the Fourth of July.

While many people refer to this legislation as the "sparkler legislation," that is a misnomer. If a local law is enacted it will authorize the sale of numerous items that have a far greater pyrotechnic effect than what many people think of as sparklers. These include: sparklers; cylindrical fountains that shoot a shower of sparks and smoke, which may contain 75 grams of pyrotechnic composition; cone fountains, which may contain 200 grams of pyrotechnic composition; wooden sparkler dipped sticks, which are wooden sticks coated in pyrotechnics; and other poppers and novelties.

While there are many arguments about the safety of these devices in the hands of children, in fact the NFPA has issued reports detailing the statistics on the number of children injured by fireworks, especially around the Fourth of July holiday. However, we will let others talk with you about those concerns.

The New York State Association of Fire Chiefs has a much simpler concern with these devices involving storage and fire prevention.

If you adopt this law, these devices would be sold in numerous outlets around the county. Under the law, specialty retailers, permanent retailers, and temporary retailers can sell these pyrotechnic devices. Let’s take a look at the definitions of these facilities. Specialty retailers are in the business of selling fireworks. With a limited market and time frame to sell them, we are not sure how many specialty retailers will set up shop. Temporary retailers include people selling fireworks out of a tent or the back of a truck. Is this a retailer that you want in your county? This leaves permanent retailers. We can envision that most of the potential outlets would be gas stations and convenience stores. While these companies are operated by perfectly legitimate businesspeople, fireworks are not the business they are in. These facilities will only be able to sell fireworks between June 1 and July 5 or from December 26 through January 2 of each year.

The limited time frame for sales means that there will be quantities of fireworks stored in the back room of these small retail facilities before the Fourth of July and potentially for months until the next time that they can be sold – in December. If you have never been in one of these storerooms, they are small and they are full of many combustible items. Frequently, there are a large number of cardboard boxes, some full and some empty. There are items such as cigarette lighters and tobacco products, in addition to motor oil and other combustibles.

Do your local code enforcement officers have enough time to check all of these places now? Will they have the additional time to perform inspections if this local law is enacted?

Is the potential for any increased tax revenue or the desire to wave a sparkling device on July Fourth worth the potential danger to a child or the significant risk of fire at any facility that sells pyrotechnics?

The New York State Association of Fire Chiefs urges you not to adopt a local law allowing for these fireworks. Please let the safety of your community take precedence over the profit of the fireworks industry.