Editorial: Fireworks not quieting down

Though cynicism has become an unfortunate defining trait of our age, we try to steer clear of such thinking, which has done much damage to our nation’s discourse.

But when it comes to attempts to address problems with fireworks in Pennsylvania, it’s difficult not to react with a knowing sigh.

Since a 2017 state law allowed aerial fireworks and other powerful pyrotechnics to be used by amateurs, each July Fourth season has been a nightmare for first responders, people with pets or small children and anyone who just wants to get a good night’s sleep in the early summer.

Lawmakers last year responded to complaints about the impact of the change by updating the measure, giving more power to municipalities to regulate fireworks use and limiting where fireworks can be sold, among other changes.

This is the first summer fireworks season since the updated law took effect, and as we expected, it didn’t make much of a difference.

Neighborhoods all over Pennsylvania were rattled by noise late night after late night on the days leading up to July Fourth and on the holiday itself.

In Allentown, for example, Police Chief Charles Roca reported a significant increase in calls regarding illegal fireworks use on Tuesday — 335, up from 269 the previous year — according to The Morning Call.

Roca posted a tweet late Tuesday slamming “heinously stupid” behavior. He was referring to a video of fireworks being launched in a neighborhood near a stadium where a public pyrotechnics display was taking place. That same description could apply to all sorts of activities witnessed in area communities this holiday.

In Reading there were reports of blatant safety violations, including children handling bottle rockets. And as usual, many people blithely ignored rules that bar setting off fireworks within 150 feet of a building or vehicle or on public property without permission. That regulation amounts to a ban on amateur fireworks in most urban and suburban settings.

Many are frustrated with local governments and law enforcement for not doing more to enforce these rules, but it’s unfair to place the blame there. There is too much of this going on at once to keep up, and often the activity has ceased by the time law enforcement has arrived, assuming police can find the perpetrators.

The reality is that as long as more powerful fireworks are easily available in Pennsylvania, there isn’t that much that police or anyone else can do to keep the activity under control. Though the new law limits fireworks sales to permanent structures, roadside tents were selling explosives as usual this summer, with some operating late into the night on July Fourth.

It’s a terrible shame. Amateur use of fireworks poses a serious risk of personal injury and even death along with potentially catastrophic property damage. In an era when wildfires are such a serious problems, even shooting them off in unpopulated areas poses a significant danger. And far too many people apparently can’t be bothered to clean up the mess they leave behind on the street after an evening of setting off explosions.

Some argue there’s no putting this genie back in the bottle. Spotlight PA recently interviewed a state lawmaker from Bucks County whose push for tighter controls on fireworks helped produce last year’s change to the law.

Sen. Frank Farry, a Republican, said the legalization of consumer-grade fireworks is here to stay. He was speaking in response to new legislation that would repeal the 2017 fireworks law.

He noted that it took years of tough negotiations to achieve the changes enacted in 2022 and said it’s unrealistic to expect much more. He went on to argue that a fireworks ban would be unfair to the businesses that have set up shop in Pennsylvania since regulations were loosened six years ago.

That’s true, but the existing situation is tremendously unfair to the huge number of Pennsylvanians who are fed up with the new fireworks status quo. They are not about to quiet down.