Local laws could regulate fireworks in neighborhoods

The reverberations of yet another awful Fourth of July fireworks season are still being felt here and all over Pennsylvania. On the night of the holiday and in the weeks preceding and following that day, careless revelers kept putting themselves and neighbors in danger by lighting powerful explosives in densely populated areas not suited for the activity.

It caused problems all over the region, most notably in Reading, where fireworks ignited the roof of Amanda E. Stout Elementary School. The fire caused $50,000 in damage to the school and could have caused a catastrophe were it not for the heroic work of city firefighters.

In Luzerne County, an 11-year-old boy died in an early July house fire blamed on fireworks.

Much of the blame lies with a change in state regulations that took effect in 2018. Pennsylvania now allows the sale of aerial fireworks and other pyrotechnics considerably more powerful than what the law had allowed in the past. The move was intended to generate tax revenue.

There’s widespread agreement among first responders that the new law has led to an unmitigated disaster in the first two summers it has been in effect.

Yet there doesn’t seem to be much appetite in moneyhungry Harrisburg to cut off a revenue source.

State Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, is promoting a pragmatic idea aimed at addressing at least part of the fireworks problem.

She issued a memo to lawmakers indicated that she plans to introduce a measure that would allow municipalities to pass ordinances governing the manner, time and location of the use of consumer fireworks.

In her memo, Schwank points to the 2017 enactment of the state Fireworks Law, saying it allowed larger and more disruptive fireworks to come into common use.

“While I’d prefer to ban all of the higher powered fireworks, I recognize that a statewide repeal is likely not going to happen,” Schwank said in her announcement of the bill she’s planning.

“But this legislation would allow local municipalities to impose ordinances such as what days and at what times they will allow fireworks.”

Putting more control in municipal hands should accomplish several things.

Apart from the safety issue, the biggest problem with excessive fireworks use is the lack of consideration for neighbors.

Municipalities all over the state are flooded with complaints each summer as residents light noisy fireworks late into the night, night after night, making even typically quiet neighborhoods feel like war zones. It poses a serious problem for people who have young children, sensitive animals or medical conditions, as well as those who simply have to go to work early the next morning and would like to get some sleep.

Since local governments are the ones who have to hear the complaints, why not empower them to at least attempt to do something about it beyond enforcing a state law that few people seem to understand.

Rather than have police try to explain exactly where and what kind of explosive devices are allowed, a municipality could establish simple rules on what days and times it’s permitted to light consumer fireworks.

Once such regulations are in place, municipalities can use all the communication tools at their disposal, including phone messages and mailings along with social media and other online means, to make sure there’s no excuse for people not knowing the rules.

Then if police find people violating the municipal ordinance, they are perfectly justified in assessing penalties rather than letting people off with warnings as they often do now.

And as Schwank noted, what people are better qualified to come up with suitable rules for a community than the leaders who live there.

We encourage other lawmakers to support Schwank’s effort and enable her to get this legislation introduced.

However, even if Schwank’s idea becomes law, it should not let senators and representatives off the hook when it comes to the impact of their ill-advised 2017 fireworks legislation.

It would be better to correct that mistake soon rather than wait for deaths, injuries and property damage to reach a point where they have no choice but to act.