SC fireworks stands under new regulations

Photo cutline: Jesse Sturgess, of West Columbia, buys fireworks Monday with his son, 6-year-old Jesse Jr.

By: Robert Kittle | WSPA-TV
Published: July 04, 2011

Today is the busiest day of the year at fireworks stands in South Carolina, and those stands are operating under some tighter regulations. South Carolina lawmakers passed the regulations and they took effect in June 2010, but most people don’t know about them and parts of the new regs are just now being implemented.

The main change that customers need to know about is that you now have to be 16 years old to buy fireworks. Before the new regulations, anyone 14 and older could buy fireworks.

The other main part of the new regulations deals with inspections of fireworks stands. In the past, local fire marshals, fire departments or sheriff’s deputies inspected the stands for licensing. Now, permits are issued by a trained inspector with the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Fireworks stand operator Murray Mason welcomes the new rules, but says the problem is enforcement. “We've got places--and I'm not going to mention where or anything about it-- sitting on top of propane tanks. We don't need that,” he says. He also worries about fireworks that are sold at gas stations. He says the inspectors are doing the best they can, but they’re stretched too thin.

As Misty Minus took her children to a fireworks stand, she didn’t know about the new age requirement for buying fireworks. But her 14-year-old son, Darius, was with her, so she said, "I think it's good. I think it's really good, 'cause if he were to come up there, he'd buy all this stuff right here and go pop 'em over there on the side of the road.” Darius just shook his head and said, “Lies.”

Mason says he won’t sell to anyone under 16, but, "That part of the law is not going to really do anything for anybody. They're not going to be able to enforce it, unless they stand a man out in front here and watch it."

Another new regulation makes it illegal to set off fireworks within 300 feet of a fireworks stand. That would seem to be common sense, but vendor Pee Wee Rish says, "Yeah, we used to have people shoot 'em right over there (pointing to the field right next to his fireworks stand.) We got rid of that. We told them they had to go further away. Go up to the field up there and shoot 'em."

SC fireworks stands under new regulations

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