The skies over coastal Delaware will light up over the Fourth of July holiday weekend with a variety of pyrotechnics displays.
But not all of them will be legal.
Delaware is one of only five states in the country that ban all consumer fireworks. That includes everything from the seemingly innocuous sparklers to small fountains to large rockets. (Only toy guns using paper caps and explosives approved for agricultural use — such as frightening birds — are exempted from Delaware’s ban.)
Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island are the only other states where consumer fireworks are completely banned. (The number of states banning all consumer fireworks is actually down from 10 in 2002.)
All fireworks displays in Delaware require not only a license from the state fire marshal’s office but $1 million in insurance. And fines range from $25 to $100 for violations.
Despite the law, each year holiday revelers bring their own fireworks with them to the beach or travel over the state line to Maryland to purchase a supply. Those actions themselves are illegal under Delaware law, since simple possession of fireworks is against the law.
And police officers and South Bethany and other coastal towns routinely bring out the ATV’s and bicycles for the holiday, to try to reach the shooters of those illegal fireworks for citations before they managed to scramble away into the darkness.
Why the tough stance on what has historically been viewed as good, clean, patriotic fun for the family?
“Every year consumer fireworks injure and maim our children,” said James M. Shannon, president and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a combined group of organizations for health and fire professionals. “Consumer fireworks are a significant public safety concern shared by doctors, nurses, other health care professionals, and members of the fire service,” he said.
Statistics reveal the danger
The NFPA cited the following statistics to show how significant the safety concerns about fireworks are:
• Injuries: In 2006, 9,200 fireworks-related injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms.
The trend in fireworks-related injuries has been mostly up since 1996, with spikes in 2000-2001, primarily due to celebrations around the advent of a new millennium, and in 2005. The highest injury rates were for children aged 10 to 14.
In 2006, nine out of 10 emergency-room fireworks injuries involved fireworks that federal regulations permit consumers to use.
Some 49 percent of 2006 emergency-room fireworks-related injuries were to the extremities; 46 percent were to the head. In all, 55 percent of the 2006 fireworks injuries were burns, while 30 percent were contusions and lacerations.
One-third of the people injured by fireworks were under the age of 15. The risk of fireworks injury was two-and-a-half times as high for children ages 10-14 as for the general population.
Sparklers, fountains and novelty fireworks alone accounted for 28 percent of the emergency-room fireworks injuries in 2006. A 9-year-old Virginia boy was burned over more than 40 percent of his body this past Monday, after his clothes were ignited by a sparkler.
• Risk factors multiplied: The risk of fire death relative to exposure shows fireworks to be the riskiest consumer product. The risk that someone will die from fire when fireworks are being used is higher relative to exposure time than the risk of fire death when a cigarette is being smoked.
The risks with fireworks are not limited to displays, public or private. Risks also exist wherever fireworks are manufactured, transported or stored.
“Safe and sane” fireworks are neither, notes the NFPA, since fireworks and sparklers are designed to explode or throw off showers of hot sparks. Temperatures may exceed 1,200°F.
• Fires: On Independence Day in a typical year, more U.S. fires are reported than on any other day, and fireworks account for half of those fires, more than any other cause of fires.
In 2005, fireworks caused an estimated 1,800 total structure fires and 700 vehicle fires reported to fire departments. These 2,500 fires resulted in an estimated 60 civilian injuries and $39 million in direct property damage. There were no reported civilian deaths.
In 2005, 1,000 home structure fires were caused by fireworks. That statistic can be particularly troubling when some beach-goers in Delaware have been known to shoot high-flying illegal fireworks over the roofs of nearby beachfront homes.
• The estimated injury risk from legal fireworks was 14 times as high in the states that permitted sparklers and novelties compared to the full-ban states. In states that permit most or all consumer fireworks, the estimated injury risk was 57 times as high compared to states that ban the use of all consumer fireworks.
Varying state laws blur the lines
The NFPA has pointed directly to concerns with varying state laws on fireworks, noting the tendency of consumers to cross state borders to buy what they can’t find in their own state due to restrictions like those in Delaware.
“It is very difficult to enforce restrictions on fireworks use through state laws because residents of a state that prohibits fireworks can often cross a state border to buy the devices. Every year, for example, people from Massachusetts drive into neighboring New Hampshire to buy fireworks from retail stands that set up near the border.”
In contrast to Delaware’s ban, in neighboring Maryland the law allows consumers to possess and use sparklers; “non-aerial, non-explosive, ground-based” devices and small explosives like paper-wrapped snappers and “snakes.”
And many of those who would shy away from handing a child a Roman candle or M-80 (the latter is now considered a federally banned explosive of a type still responsible for one third of all “fireworks” injuries) will overlook Delaware’s law to break out a package of sparklers for fun on the Fourth of July. Indeed a nostalgic scene from the 2006 live-action adaptation of “Charlotte’s Web” featured children running with sparklers.
But safety experts at the National Council on Fireworks Safety warn that fireworks of any variety should never be given to children, while representatives of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission specify: “Sparklers, considered by many the ideal ‘safe’ firework for the young, burn at very high temperatures and can easily ignite clothing. Children cannot understand the danger involved and cannot act appropriately in case of emergency.”
Local public displays offer safe fun
Despite the majority of states that allow consumers to possess and use some varieties of fireworks, the NFPA does not endorse the use of consumer fireworks and instead encourages the public to enjoy displays of fireworks conducted by trained professionals.
The area will offer at least three such displays, all on Friday, July 4.
• The pyrotechnics in Bethany Beach, slated to be shot from the newly expanded beach for the first time this year, will follow the town’s traditional noon parade and a 7:30 p.m. concert by the Philadelphia Brass Band on the renovated boardwalk bandstand.
The town’s public fireworks display is set to light up the skies from the Wellington Parkway area around dusk — approximately 9:20 p.m. It can generally also be seen from the beaches to the north and south of the town, as well as a short distance inland.
With parking likely to be at a premium, the town trolley will be running throughout the day, at a cost of 50 cents per passenger, with stops throughout the town, and can be hailed along most of its route.
• The 2007 Rehoboth Beach Fireworks Show will be launched from the beach and can generally be seen from Rehoboth Avenue, the boardwalk and shoreline. Fireworks launch time is approximately 9:15 p.m., following a concert of popular contemporary music from a U.S. Army band.
Those wishing to attend are being advised to use the shuttle service from Route 1 at the field between County Bank and Jungle Jims. Buses will start at 5 p.m. and bring people into town by 8:45 p.m.; then the shuttle runs again after the fireworks until past 11 p.m., or until everyone is out of town. Parking costs $10 per car.
The Jolly Trolley Shuttle will operate from 8 a.m. until around 2 a.m. The regular route will be altered between 6 and 11 p.m., while Rehoboth Avenue is closed. The Jolly Trolley will have a stop on Christian Street, uptown, behind Jack Lingo Realtor.
A rooftop viewing party at the Atlantic Sands Hotel for those 21 or older is already sold out. But, following the fireworks, there will be a concert by The Funsters at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand.
• Ocean City will host displays from Northside Park (125th Street) and the beach at North Division Street, both starting about 9:30 p.m. on the Fourth of July. Public transportation is available to both locations, with a multitude of music and other entertainment offered prior to the fireworks displays.
Jamboree in the Park at Northside Park, 125th Street and the Bay, includes a full slate of action-packed activities and fun for the whole family. Jamboree-goers can enjoy live entertainment on the main stage starting at 5 p.m. Family and children’s entertainment will take place on the fun field stage, and roaming children’s entertainment is throughout the park. Visitors can also stroll along the south side of the fun field to enjoy arts & crafts vendors.
Jamboree food will be offered at the fun field and on the patio. Hungry visitors can choose from traditional festival fare, such as hotdogs, hamburgers, pizza, fries, pretzels, funnel cakes, cotton candy, snow cones and Pepsi products, as well as smoothies, curly fries and crabcake sandwiches.
Carnival games, inflatable activities and a rock-climbing wall are just some of the family activities offered at Jamboree in the Park. Anywhere in the park is a good place to watch the magnificent fireworks display, organizers noted.
The July 4th Concert and Fireworks will be offered at North Division Street and the beach in Ocean City, allowing those attending to bring a blanket, stretch out on the beach and enjoy a patriotic concert by The United States Navy Band beginning at 8 p.m.
For more information about Ocean City’s Fourth of July, call the Ocean City Department of Recreation and Parks at (410) 250-0125.