With less than a month until a new state law goes into effect, which legalizes consumer-grade firework usage on certain holidays, the City of Toledo hasn’t made any movement towards enacting a restriction or ban of its own.
Ohio House Bill 172 was passed in October to allow state residents to legally purchase and discharge 1.4G consumer-grade fireworks like firecrackers and bottle rockets. Previous laws limited individual firework use to novelty items like sparklers.
However, fireworks won’t be legal year-round — there are about 20 calendar dates and specific hours when Ohioans will be able to light them up. Fireworks will be permissible on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; the Chinese New Year; Cinco de Mayo; Memorial Day Weekend; Juneteenth; July 3, 4, and 5th, as well as the Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays preceding and following Independence Day; Labor Day weekend; and Diwali.
Fireworks will only be permitted on those dates between 4 and 11 p.m., with the exception of New Year’s Eve, when they can go on past midnight and until 1 a.m. the next day.
A key provision of the law allows political subdivisions, like cities, townships, and villages, to opt out entirely or implement their own restrictions for firework usage. Several municipalities have already done so, including Dayton and at least nine other smaller towns.
“It’s actually up to individual jurisdictions whether or not they still allow this to happen,” said Brian Byrd, Toledo’s Director of Public Safety. “The City of Toledo has not weighed in on our thoughts on this yet, but we will before the July 1st date.”
Mr. Byrd said that neither the mayor nor the city council have taken action yet on restricting or banning firework usage.
“There’s no defined plan right at the moment, but we’ve gotta get on it, because July 1st is coming up soon,” he said.
Before serving as public safety director, Mr. Byrd was Chief of the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, and he saw his fair share of fireworks-related injuries and fires during his time there.
“There’s always safety issues with fireworks, because there are people who all the time do irresponsible things with fireworks,” he said. “The fire department every year would get roof fires, fires in people’s yards, or in woods, because they’re shooting off fireworks in areas that they shouldn’t, and they’re shooting off the wrong kind of fireworks.”
Pvt. Sterling Rahe of the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department emphasized the importance of using safe practices when setting off fireworks, like keeping them away from children and always having a bucket of water or garden hose handy.
“Regardless of current or future changes to state or local laws, the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department will always emphasize safe practices when it comes to the use or handling of consumer-grade or commercial-grade fireworks,” Private Rahe said.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, at least 18 people died from fireworks-related incidents in 2020, compared to 12 deaths in 2019. Additionally, nearly 16,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks injuries in 2020 — a 60 percent increase from 2019.
Just last year in East Toledo, fireworks caused a truck to explode, damaging nearby homes and injuring the people involved.
“A year ago, somebody blew up a moving truck in a neighborhood because they were shooting off fireworks out of the back of it,” Mr. Byrd said. “They could’ve killed folks. So people are always doing irresponsible things with fireworks, even though they know the rules now.”
Greg Price, the retail sales manager for local fireworks distributor Miller Fireworks Inc. in Holland, also recalled the moving van incident.
“If you ban it, what’s it gonna stop?” he said. “Because people have clearly been doing it anyway.”
Mr. Price said that in the digital age, it’s become easier for customers to follow instructions on safely discharging fireworks — most of the manufacturers Miller Fireworks works with have started putting QR codes on their packaging that link to videos of each firework being properly used.
According to the State Fire Marshal’s new fireworks discharge code, fireworks must only be discharged on a citizen’s own property, or another person’s property with permission. Additionally, no one can use fireworks while in possession of or under the influence of any liquor, beer, or controlled substance — violating that rule is a first-degree misdemeanor.
Consumers will be able to buy fireworks from licensed sales locations, but the retailer must provide safety glasses and safety pamphlets for free or a nominal charge.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission released guidelines on safe firework usage concurrently, advising consumers to keep all types of fireworks away from children, including sparklers. The commission instructed users to always wear protective eyewear when handling fireworks, don’t hold lit fireworks in hand, don’t light them indoors, and only use them far away from people, houses, and flammable material.
Both spent and unused fireworks should be soaked in water for several hours before being discarded.
The code includes more specific instructions on how far fireworks must be from nearby structures or people. For shells, roman candles, cakes, and bottle rockets, the minimum discharge radius is 150 feet, and often two to three times that depending on whether a hospital, school, or hotel is nearby. The radius for fountains and firecrackers is 50 feet.
The Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of the State Fire Marshal published a business impact analysis of the newly proposed firework discharge rules, stating that if the provisions were properly followed, “their effectiveness will be evident from a lack of accidents by the average consumer resulting in injury, death or property damage as compared to the number of incidents that occurred prior.”
The Miller Fireworks website also has an extensive list of safety guidelines for firework usage, including always reading and following label directions, buying from a reliable source, storing fireworks in a cool and dry place, and not pointing fireworks at others.
Though he’d be happy to see consumer firework usage legalized, Mr. Price isn’t particularly worried about how a local municipal ban would affect the business.
“Our sales aren’t really affected by that because if people want to set off fireworks, they’ve proven for the last… forever, that they’re going to do it regardless,” he said. “It’s just nice now that people can come in and they can feel at ease.”
Miller Fireworks Inc. has been in business for the better part of a century — long before H.B. 172 was even conceptualized. Mr. Price said the business can still sell fireworks to consumers now as long as the consumers take the goods out of state within 48 hours of purchase.
“The law itself is pretty wide open — it’s really going to come down to the municipalities,” Mr. Price said. “What are they gonna do? Are they gonna let it happen? And if they don’t, you know… you’re still gonna have it happen.”
First Published June 4, 2022, 3:00 p.m.
