Booming fireworks business hampered by new laws
For an explosive business like fireworks, many in the industry are having a hard time handling local and state laws as well as other unique setbacks this year.
“It’s our livelihood,” said Kelly Minor, owner of Renegade Fireworks. “It’s like anything else you work hard at, but there’s not any other kind of business where someone can come in and shut you down just like that.”
City officials shut down MinorÂ’s fireworks stores in Alvarado and Burleson, as both cities passed laws banning fireworks within city limits, she said.
Texas state law allows cities to ban the use of fireworks from city limits and restricts statewide sales to certain windows of time; from June 24 to July 4 and Dec. 20 to Jan. 1.
Survival during the off-season is tough for many companies, Minor said, and many people work one or two jobs outside the firework industry to stay financially afloat.
“It’s not easy to budget for the whole year round, you know,” she said. “But, that’s what we have to do.”
Meanwhile state, county and city officials, such as the Arlington Fire Department, display the dangerous side of fireworks and encourage people to either leave fireworks alone, or use them with utmost precaution in legal areas.
“We recover around 100 pounds [of fireworks] a year,” said Arlington’s Assistant Fire Marshall Stephen Lea after a fireworks safety demonstration.
Arlington paramedics and firefighters used Black Cat fireworks to explode tomatoes and grapefruit to exhibit the damage a firework could cause to the body, especially to fingers and eyes.
“Throughout the Metroplex there are hundreds of injuries a year – mostly young kids,” Lea said.
While fireworks stores must adapt to changing city laws, theyÂ’re also battling a shortage of fireworks this year.
Texas Regional Manager Damon Boger of Premier Pyrotechnics Inc., which designs the Fort Worth Cats fireworks, said a February explosion that demolished around 30 firework warehouses in China has affected firework businesses around the globe.
“Shipments are just now leaving China that were supposed to be here a month ago,” Boger said. “It’s created an uncertainty of what’s going to be where and when.”
What would have been a typical summer season has become much harder to navigate, Boger said. Premier, along with other companies, must be careful to ensure their fireworks display contracts donÂ’t extend beyond their firework inventory.
Rising gas prices are another factor in battling to stay open in todayÂ’s firework industry, Minor said.
“People don’t realize that the cost of fuel for your freight overseas makes it harder and harder to get your fireworks,” Minor said. “That, and with the dollar not being what it was, I’m going to end up paying 30 to 40 percent more for my fireworks.”
Still, despite prices, shortages and restrictions of use within city limits, Boger said business continues to rise through recent years.
“A lot of business organizations are tempted to purchase shows more than before because it’s a pretty neat way to draw attention and rally staff,” Boger said. “There’s always going to be somebody wanting a firework show.”
Contact Mason at smason@bizpress.net
Firework safety tips
“Fireworks weren’t made to be held in hand while being lit,”
Arlington Assistant Fire Marshall Stephen Lea said.
Lea suggests using a punk stick, a long stick designed to light
fireworks, instead. Lea also advises against throwing fireworks in
the air and being near buildings or dry areas.
Know the laws
According to Fort Worth Code Compliance Customer Service,
no individual may light fireworks within Tarrant County. Professional firework displays may be put on with a permit.
