County approves sale, use of sparklers

By Derek Liebig

Local residents will now be able to buy sparklers and related novelties in Washington County.

The county board of supervisors authorized the sale and use of the devices within the county at its monthly board meeting last week, but not without considerable debate.

A few supervisors voiced opposition to the law, citing safety concerns expressed by the county’s Fire Coordinators’ Office.

Ray Rathbun, county fire coordinator, distributed a letter to supervisors detailing the county’s J-Fire (Juvenile Fire Intervention Response and Education) program, which seeks to educate first-time juvenile offenders who set fires.

Earlier this month, Gary Evens said the department seeks to make a distinction between what is considered a tool and what is considered a toy. He said sparklers fall into the latter.

Rathbun said the county established the J-Fire program in 2009 because officials had seen a number of instances where children playing with lighters or matches had caused fires that damaged buildings.

“We talk about adult supervision but I’ve seen too many instances where it’s not there,” said Rathbun, who later conceded he could not think of a local incident in which fireworks resulted in a fire.

Whitehall Supervisor George Armstrong said he was initially in favor of a law permitting the use of sparklers, but changed his mind after reading Rathbun’s letter.

“I take very seriously the advice of the professionals we put in charge of the departments and for that reason I’m voting no,” Armstrong said.

Greenwich Supervisor Sara Idelman told her fellow supervisors about an instance when her two older brothers accidentally set a barn on fire while trying to have a hot dog roast when they were children.

“I think to legalize dangerous objects for the sake of sales tax is not a good idea,” she said.

But others felt differently.

Argyle Supervisor Bob Henke said that although it was hard to argue against increased safety, it’s impossible to keep people safe from everything.

“You could make some of the same statements about birthday cakes as we do about fireworks,” he said. “This is as much about personal freedom as sales tax.”

Jackson Supervisor Alan Brown expressed a similar sentiment.

“What about books of matches, cigarette lighters and stick matches,” he asked.

He and Dana Haff both said the law could actually lead to a decrease in illegal fireworks.

Haff said people already go out of state to buy the objects and often times return with other, more dangerous fireworks.

“I think that by voting yes we could mitigate the exposure to dangerous fireworks,” he said.

Last November, Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a law permitting the sale and use of sparklers in New York (excluding New York City) but left it up to individual counties to decide if they would permit the sale and use in their jurisdictions.

Under the law, wooden sparklers, handle fountains, spike fountains, cylindrical base fountains and cone fountains are now legal to use in New York, as are novelties such as party poopers and snappers.

Firecrackers, sky rockets, metal wire sparklers, smoke cones and other aerial fireworks remain illegal to sell and possess in New York unless they are part of a permitted fireworks display.

Hampton Supervisor Dave O’Brien asked if sales could be limited to people age 18 or older, but County Attorney Roger Wickes said the state law already includes an exclusion prohibited the sale to minors.

He said approving the law would permit the county to track any fires or injuries that occurred from the use of sparklers.

After much discussion, supervisors voted by a 2,138 to 1,674 margin. Armstrong, Idelman, White Creek Supervisor Bob Shay and Kingsbury Supervisor James Lindsay voted against the law.