Thursday, June 26, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.
As the July Fourth holiday nears, Clark County fire inspectors anticipate an uphill battle to enforce local and federal laws restricting the sale and use of fireworks.
While colorful booths hawking legal Safe-N-Sane fireworks are popping up around the city preparing to open Saturday, officials are concerned about the dangers posed by illegal rockets and explosive devices.
The sparkler-type fireworks that are legal in the Las Vegas Valley can be sold by nonprofit groups only, and their sale and use is restricted to the week preceding July 4. But every year hordes of Las Vegas residents trek to Pahrump or the Moapa Paiute Reservation to buy bottle rockets, M-80s and other products that pack more punch than the Clark County-approved brands.
Nevada is the only state in the nation that doesn't have any state laws restricting fireworks, so rules and enforcement vary from one county to the next, Richard Loera of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission said. Despite the laws in Clark County prohibiting flying or exploding fireworks, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach admitted that their use here is common.
"There's no way to tell how many there are because you can't measure the sales," Leinbach said. Even the Safe-N-Sane fireworks can be dangerous if used irresponsibly, he said, but "the biggest problem, without a doubt, are the illegal ones."
The problem, according to Leinbach, is that the more powerful fireworks can be hazardous even when used properly. University Medical Center admits several patients each year injured by Fourth of July fireworks, and the ongoing drought makes fires an equally worrisome threat, officials said.
"It doesn't take much to start a grass and brush fire," John Jones, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Forestry, said. "Every year we have fireworks starting brush fires."
No fireworks, even the Safe-N-Sane type, are allowed on federal land, but national parks in the area still end up with fireworks-sparked blazes.
At the Clark County Fire Department Training Center on Wednesday, fire Inspector Kelly Blackmon demonstrated the differences between the legal and illegal fireworks. The Safe-N-Sane fireworks sat still, emitting shrieks and sparks, while the contraband versions rocketed into the sky and burst in loud snaps.
"(The legal fireworks) don't go anywhere," a firefighter noted.
That's why Fourth of July revelers are often unsatisfied with the selection at Las Vegas shops like the Phantom Fireworks booths, which work with various nonprofit groups to sell the Safe-N-Sane line.
Pahrump is a common destination for fans of firecrackers because neighboring Nye County permits the sale -- though not the use -- of products outlawed across the county line.
Nye's laws comply with federal hazardous substances laws that prohibit the use, but not the sale, of the most dangerous fireworks, such as cherry bombs, which must be lighted then thrown, and large firecrackers containing more than 50 milligrams of powder.
Even more popular is the Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza, about 25 miles north of Las Vegas. The reservation, which is not bound by federal rules, has a designated launching pad where fireworks can be set off legally, but Casey Monfield of the Paiute Travel Plaza estimated that only about one in four customers uses the pad.
"Daily, I'd say we get about 2,000 customers buying fireworks" as July Fourth approaches, Monfield said. The customers prefer "the larger fireworks, the ones like the American Blaster and stuff. These are big shows. Legally, you can't sell them anywhere else."
While few citizens are prosecuted for transferring illegal fireworks into Clark County, Blackmon said that Las Vegas residents do get busted when their fireworks cause a problem.
"It's normally some type of complaint that they set off fireworks and started a fire in a palm tree or they landed in a neighbor's yard," Blackmon said.
Possession, use or sale of illegal fireworks is a misdemeanor punishable in Clark County by a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail, though Blackmon said violators generally only pay a fine and forfeit the illegal fireworks. On federal land the fine can rise to as much as $10,000.
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