Commentary : Fireworks: Hazardous Materials

There is something wrong with our system.

How can society selectively condemn and condone unsafe practices simultaneously? Let me be specific: Currently, two of the biggest concerns in local government are “hazardous materials” and “liability.” The state Legislature is coming up with numerous rules and regulations to restrict and limit hazardous materials and fix liabilities for their improper handling. The rationale given for this legislation is that “hazardous materials are dangerous.”

It’s human nature to want someone to blame if something goes wrong, such as a chemical spill. Yet, the same people who point accusatory fingers at the chemical industry and government will support--and even advocate--that, once a year, we pack our communities full of tons of explosives (fireworks), and engage in all sorts of abhorrent behavior, such as setting fire to these explosives on our front lawns amid our family and friends. We call that a “celebration.”

Last July 4, we had a classic example of just how bizarre this behavior can become. An apartment house in Anaheim was destroyed by the improper use of fireworks. The lives of more than 250 persons were threatened, not just with injury, but with death, as a result of that fire. Millions of dollars in property was destroyed.

The headlines the next day in newspapers across the country described similar incidents: young children lost their eyesight, fingers or hands, or were badly burned, or their homes were destroyed. A fire chief was killed at a fireworks display.

If the same losses were attributed to a hazardous materials spill, there would be a hue and cry across this country. I know. I’m a firefighter. For a quarter of a century, I have found myself dealing with an increasing hazardous materials problem.

I have also observed an increasing amount of recklessness, ignorance and outright antisocial behavior on the part of individuals who support and use fireworks.

Yes, there is something wrong with our system. The very same people who will file lawsuits against communities because of a dump site will throw huge block parties discharging chemicals into the air; chemicals that, when inhaled, can have just as serious consequences as inhaling odors from the dump site.

How do we eliminate this hypocrisy? Here’s one suggestion: You readers who think the hazardous materials problem is really a threat to our community should take as strong a stand on fireworks. I guarantee that will have a more immediate impact on the saving of lives and property than all of the class-action lawsuits and regulations on hazardous materials.

I can almost hear the grumblings: That’s unpatriotic! Un-American! You’re taking a funding source away from many of our youth groups! I agree that fireworks have a place. Public displays can and should be held to celebrate this nation’s birthday. However, fireworks should only be discharged by qualified and licensed pyrotechnicians.

For a fund-raiser, how about having youth groups contract with local government to clean up some of the blighted areas, such as easements, parkways, and parks?

Another argument often presented is that fireworks are “safe and sane.” Not true. These devices are combustible, flammable, and explosive. There is no such thing as a safe way to set fire to something in the vicinity of combustible materials such as grass, trees, brush and children’s clothing.

If you believe the quality of life means freedom from fear of having your home destroyed and your children injured or killed, then you will start asking for a countywide ban on fireworks. You will start attacking the institutions that condone this practice instead of attacking the local police and fire departments which are doing their damnedest to deal with the burgeoning problem of public safety.

The Boy Scouts of America has done something about this. That organization no longer allows a troop to remain chartered if it engages in the sale of fireworks. When the rest of those “youth-oriented organizations” accept their obligation to the community, perhaps the system will change.

Some cities have already banned fireworks, but they are being victimized by neighboring communities that refuse to do so; therefore, bans in some areas literally have resulted in little pockets around Orange County which have a tremendous enforcement problem.

Yes, there is something terribly wrong with our system. That something will remain wrong until people become just as indignant about the idiocy of setting fires to homes, businesses and wilderness with fireworks as we in the fire service have become.