Measure would outlaw fireworks that leave ground

CARSON CITY -- Everybody in Clark County with wooden shingles "just dreads the Fourth of July and they have to stay home with a fire hose to protect their homes," from skyrockets, Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, says.

Chowning has been a persistent advocate of tougher regulations on fireworks and on Tuesday she introduced a bill to have the state oversee their sale and use.

"We're the last state in the union to have a state fireworks control law," she said.

The bill would allow such things as sparklers, cones, fountains "and everything that is stationary and doesn't leave the ground," she said. Fireworks that shoot into the air, posing fire hazards upon touchdown, would be outlawed.

Bob Barengo, a lobbyist who represented fireworks businesses two years ago, said the bill would take away discretion by counties in the regulation of this industry. In the past, legislators have been uncomfortable with giving the state fire marshal authority over all the counties.

Barengo also said the bill would still permit Indian tribes to sell any kind of fireworks while restricting private businesses. He said, however, that he has not been hired so far this session to represent the business. John Cummings, a lobbyist who said he represents some companies, said he wants to look at the bill, Assembly Bill 160, before commenting.

This is the third effort by Chowning to put added regulations on the industry.

Taxpayers, she said, pay a "heavy freight" for putting out fires caused by these dangerous explosives. In Washoe County, it cost $700,000 to extinguish two fires set off by illegal fireworks on Peavine Mountain.

The bill, Chowning said, would exempt public aerial displays from the regulations. Chowning said her husband used to be in the fireworks business but no longer is.

Arguing for state control, she said there's an ordinance in Clark County regulating fireworks but none in Nye County. She said Clark County residents simply drive to Nye County and purchase fireworks there.

"In my mind, I cannot be a responsible representative and sit by and say it's OK to allow an unsafe and dangerous item to be sold," she said. "We're closing our eyes."

If the bill passes, a person who uses or stores the illegal fireworks could be penalized by the state fire marshal for the cost of the investigation, for the cost of putting the fire out, and for the cost of confiscating and disposing of the fireworks.

"The penalty is not jail," Chowning said. "I don't want to clog the courts and jails. The penalty is monetary."

The bill was referred to the Government Affairs Committee.

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