Pennsylvania's fireworks complaints: Will the law ever be changed? - The Morning Call

The fireworks started in my neighborhood not long after we got home from dinner and continued intermittently as the year wound down. Thankfully, after the anticipated midnight barrage, they petered out quickly.

I suspect others were not so fortunate, with revelers blasting away late into the night. That’s happened previously at my place.

Fireworks are fine at the right time and place. Shooting them off in crowded neighborhoods and over neighbors’ roofs late at night is annoying and dangerous. It’s also illegal, but seldom is anyone arrested for it.

State lawmakers created this problem in 2017 when they legalized consumer-grade fireworks — and slapped an 18% sales tax on them.

Cha-ching. The decision was all about money. Lawmakers failed to consider the nuisance and threat they enabled.

In response to complaints, they’ve acted concerned. But nearly five years have passed. If our Legislature really was concerned, it would have done something by now.

These hearings are just part of the show in Harrisburg. Lawmakers appear to be interested in listening to the people. They show empathy. They say the right things.

Fireworks aren’t allowed to be used within 150 feet of homes, but the thrill seekers don’t care. They just blast away, and it’s nearly impossible for authorities to punish them.

They included police and fire officials, with Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney testifying how a family of eight lost their home when fireworks burned it down, and how an 8-year-old boy died because used fireworks were discarded carelessly and caused a fire.

In written testimony, he told lawmakers — at least those who bothered to read it — that he has autistic children who are sensitive to noise. They don’t understand why fireworks are blasting around their home all through the night.

“Fireworks are a quality of life issue that we deal with every year,” Kern wrote. “Fireworks have no place in our dense cities.”

Cathy Yarnall of Barto testified how her neighbors routinely set off fireworks above her farm, traumatizing her horses. Because the display is more than 150 feet from an occupied building, it’s legal, police told her when she summoned them last July.

“My horses were trembling at the front of the property ... and were struggling to breathe. The whole property, including the barn, was full of smoke,” Yarnall said in written testimony.

A repeal is the only solution, in my opinion — unless lawmakers give municipalities the authority to ban fireworks within their borders and make possession of them a crime.

Authorities must catch someone in the act. Even a lighter in one hand and a bag of Roman candles in the other may not be enough to warrant charges.

There doesn’t seem to be interest in repealing the law. Early last year, local representatives Peter Schweyer, Jeanne McNeill, Mike Schlossberg and Bob Freeman introduced repeal legislation. It has not moved.

Suggestions offered at last month’s hearing included putting limits on when fireworks can be used or giving municipalities that ability; allowing municipalities to have a voter referendum on whether fireworks should be banned; allowing municipalities to prohibit fireworks from being used near schools, farms, veterans facilities and hospitals; and allowing municipalities to determine what is an appropriate fine.

source: https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-pennsylvania-fireworks-law-muschick-20220104-ogbivqzp3ndyrm3bpuiabfl5zy-story.html

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