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Central New York counties split on legalizing sparklers

Tom Magnarelli
/
WRVO News
Deputy Chief Steve Cavuto from the Syracuse Fire Department (left) holds up an illegal Roman candle firework which caused a house fire. Joan Dolinak (right) is a burn surgeon at Upstate University Hospital.

The New York state legislature passed a law that lets each county determine if they're going to allow sparklers leading up to the Fourth of July weekend. More than 30 counties in New York legalized sparklers including Jefferson, Madison and Cortland counties. The ban on sparklers is still in effect for Onondaga, Oneida, Tompkins and Oswego counties.

 

Joan Dolinak, a burn surgeon at Upstate University Hospital, said most sparkler injuries happen to children five-years-old and younger.

 

“My theory is if you don't trust a kid with a hot boiling pan of grease, we probably shouldn't be handing them a sparkler because you still get that kind of fallout and splatter effect of the sparkler heat,” Dolinak said.

 

Credit Tom Magnarelli / WRVO News
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WRVO News
An example of sparkler fireworks, now legal in some central New York counties.

Dolinak said in areas that legalize fireworks, house fire calls go up by about 50 percent. If you are going to use sparklers, Dolinak recommends keeping a five-gallon bucket of water around to submerge the sparklers in when you're done using them.

 

Deputy Chief Steve Cavuto from the Syracuse Fire Department said the Fourth of July is the busiest time of year for fire departments and the majority of injuries come from sparklers.

 

“If a sparkler can burn at 1,200 degrees and water boils at 200 degrees, you wouldn't give a three-year-old a pot of boiling water," Cavuto said. "Why would you give a four-year-old a 1,200 degree toy?”

 

Cavuto said every year there is usually a collection of illegal fireworks that make their way around central New York. But legalizing sparklers this year in certain counties could cause confusion among sellers and consumers.

 

“The owners of these stores, whether with bad intention or ignorance of the law, are bringing more fireworks in the area, bigger fireworks in the area than just sparklers," Cavuto said. "And now they become bought by consumers who think, it's okay. If it's okay in Cortland County, it must be okay here.”

 

Cavuto said fireworks are the riskiest consumer product you can buy and there is a house fire nearly every year in central New York during the fourth of July holiday. Rather than using sparklers, Cavuto advises parents to take kids out to a professional fireworks show.

Tom Magnarelli is a reporter covering the central New York and Syracuse area. He joined WRVO as a freelance reporter in 2012 while a student at Syracuse University and was hired full time in 2015. He has reported extensively on politics, education, arts and culture and other issues around central New York.