Fireworks are dangerous, illegal, easily accessible
County officials anticipate fires and injuries on the Fourth
Many people will celebrate America’s 239th birthday this weekend by hosting cookouts, traveling to visit friends and family — and making dogs run for cover, thanks to illegal use of consumer fireworks.
A county ordinance prohibits the sale or use of fireworks. City officials say part of the reason the ordinance was established was to ensure safety.
Violating the ordinance, though, doesn’t carry strong penalties: An officer may issue a summons to court and a fine of as much as $50, a police spokesperson said.
But according to a June 24 report from research group IBIS World, America is expected to spend approximately $710 million on fireworks this year, and spending on the holiday is expected to rise 4.2 percent.
And with firework stands just beyond county lines, Shelby Countians can easily obtain them.
“Our biggest (problem) is the availability of fireworks across the county lines,” said Jacob Haley, a fire marshal at the Shelby County Fire Department.
I never realized there was that much money in firecrackers, and I’m sitting on the street selling them like lemonade.”
Tom Collins, Uncle Sam’s Fireworks
“Most of my sales are $25 to $30 right now. Come the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, people are gonna start buying the bigger items,” Tom Collins of Uncle Sam’s Fireworks in Horn Lake said recently. “They’ll come in and spend $500, $600, and they will buy an assortment from just the smallest fireworks for the kids ... up to stuff that the adults would like.”
Collins, 59, stands in his tent for 16 hours per day, from 8 a.m. to midnight. He agreed to sell for his cousin’s business, which has 25 firework tents around the region and is expected to make approximately $200,000 to $250,000 during the holiday season.
“I never realized there was that much money in firecrackers, and I’m sitting on the street selling them like lemonade,” he said. His highest-priced item is a “treasure chest” for $200.
According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, Americans purchased 201.6 million pounds of consumer fireworks last year — nearly double what they bought in 2000. And the U.S. purchased 23.7 million pounds of display fireworks.
This means that almost 90 percent of fireworks in the country bought last year were used by nonprofessionals.
Antonio Braden, a 12-year-old Nashville boy, was playing with fireworks last weekend when a damaged shell exploded in his hand and hit him in the chest, according to reports. He died in the hospital of his injuries.
Wayne Cooke, Memphis Fire Department spokesman, said approximately 30,100 fires and 9,500 injuries occur because of fireworks nationally each year. Last year, on the Fourth of July, firefighters responded to 21 firework-related fires.
Fire inspector Terry Watts of the Shelby County Fire Department said most injuries are caused by bottle rockets, which spokesman Brent Perkins said are a “guaranteed fire.”
“If you took it upon yourself to shoot fireworks without a license and someone got injured or you caused property damage ... then there’s no doubt you would face penalties,” Perkins said. “You would be held responsible, liable for the damages. And then the appropriate action would be up to the judge in court.”
Haley, from the Shelby County Fire Department, said that although the quality of fireworks has improved over the years, injuries and fires remain an issue because the shooter is “doing something that he (or she) shouldn’t be (doing).”
He said that the department does not do anything different for the holiday, such as requiring more firefighters on duty, though they appear on site for display fireworks in case of emergency. They receive a list of everything that will be shot and ensure that the shooters stick to the list.
Display fireworks must be licensed through the state fire marshal’s office. Haley said the process entails paperwork through the state and requires the applicant to be at least 21 years old with no prior felonies, among other criteria.
But aside from the attention-grabbing, elaborate firework displays, Haley and Perkins both say that one of the most dangerous things to allow a child to use is a sparkler, which can burn up to 3,000 degrees.
“That’s hot enough to melt some metals. It’s probably one of the more dangerous fireworks out there,” Haley said. “(Most people) consider them safe. But you give them to a child and they may or may not know better.”