By Betsy Russell
BOISE — An Idaho House committee voted down legislation Monday to ban the sale of aerial fireworks in Idaho.
Shooting off aerial fireworks already is illegal in the state, but a loophole in the law allows them to be sold legally at two busy locations in southwestern Idaho. Those businesses require purchasers to sign an affidavit saying they won’t set off the fireworks in Idaho.
On a 9-6 vote, the committee opposed even introducing the legislation, refusing to allow a hearing on it.
Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan, a prime backer of the bill, reacted angrily.
“It was clear by the actions of the committee today they do not care about firefighter safety, or if people’s homes and lives are being destroyed by illegal fireworks every year,” he said in a statement. “The exorbitant cost to taxpayers and local governments, and the fact that six homes in Ada County were burned down last year, was not enough to influence their decision to print a bill which would allow a full hearing and dialogue about this important issue.”
He added, “The ability to purchase illegal fireworks apparently trumps the right of residents to protect their home from fires. This summer when someone’s home burns down due to aerial fireworks you can blame the House State Affairs Committee.”
House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, the bill’s sponsor, agreed with that assessment. “If houses in the Treasure Valley burn, it’s the State Affairs Committee’s fault,” he said after the meeting. “At this time, I don’t think that that bill has much breath left in it. I think we need to go back to the drawing board.”
Some committee members said they opposed introducing the bill because it wouldn’t also ban the sale of fireworks on Idaho Indian reservations, where sovereign tribes determine their own policy in accordance with federal law. Others raised technical questions about the bill and how it would work.
“It did not appear to do what he was representing it would do,” said Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens.
Doan said last June’s 2,500-acre Table Rock Fire on the edge of Boise, which was caused by illegal fireworks and burned one home and threatened hundreds of others, cost taxpayers $341,000. The Henry’s Creek Fire that burned more than 53,000 acres in Bonneville County was started by bottle rockets. Firefighting costs for the Henry’s Creek Fire were estimated at more than $4 million.
Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, who voted in favor of introducing the measure, said he still had questions about it.
“I think Rep. Erpelding has some work to do to find out if he could get the tribes on board,” Crane said. He added that he’s not sure Idahoans want to ban the sale of aerial fireworks, saying, “He attempted to light the fuse, and it was a dud.”
This story first appeared in The Spokesman-Review.
