$2,500 and or 12 months of jail time?! for SPARKLERS?!?

[MomNeedsVacay]

Welcome to Alexandria, VA, folks. A great historical city where if you have any sort of firework including sparklers(!!!!) they will arrest you and fine you 2,500.....

Way to celebrate the great freedoms of America by putting such extreme laws in place!!!
What are the laws in your town in re: to fireworks??? Are they allowed??

 

[Bren's Mom]

Welcome to Alexandria, VA, folks. A great historical city where if you have any sort of firework including sparklers(!!!!) they will arrest you and fine you 2,500.....

Way to celebrate the great freedoms of America by putting such extreme laws in place!!!
What are the laws in your town in re: to fireworks??? Are they allowed??

Well, Alexandria would no longer be a great historical city if it burned down.

It might seem extreme if you fail to factor in that MANY people, like you apparently, seem to think 'sparklers' are no big deal...but they are, and they can and do cause personal and property damage, and many people don't treat them as being as dangerous as they truly are (or can be).

 

[ckay87]

Well there are a lot of things that can cause personal or property damage when used irresponsibly. For someone like me who enjoys spending time with my kids enjoying sparklers together....supervised...with a big bucket of water in which to dump the spent sparklers, this law would anger me greatly.

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

Well, Alexandria would no longer be a great historical city if it burned down.

It might seem extreme if you fail to factor in that MANY people, like you apparently, seem to think 'sparklers' are no big deal...but they are, and they can and do cause personal and property damage, and many people don't treat them as being as dangerous as they truly are (or can be).

Are you actually saying a sparkler could cause my city to burn down?!?!!!!!

 

[61292cna]

I wouldn't have a big problem with this, except for the fact that you would do less time for child molestation these days.

 

[olena]

Really? We may be moving to the DC area and we hadn't given Virginia much thought. I've never seen a sparkler do anything but burn a kid holding it, but I have seen other at-home displays get out of hand and one set someone else's house on fire. My parents have also suffered property damage from neighbor's fireworks in burns to the exterior and large holes in window and porch screens.

 

[happygirl]

Are you actually saying a sparkler could cause my city to burn down?!?!!!!!

A cow knocking a candle burnt down Chicago. So anything is possible. I was googling Sparklers damages. There are pages and pages of fires that have been started with sparklers

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

A cow knocking a candle burnt down Chicago. So anything is possible

yes, well, candles are legal....

and that was in the late 1800's

 

[JR6ooo4]

sparklers burn at 1800 degrees F! That is hot enough to melt aluminum!

This is a kids toy?

Mikeeee

 

[happygirl]

yes, well, candles are legal....

and that was in the late 1800's

LOL do you think fires have changed since thing??

 

[soupy11]

Boy those cows sure got a life sentence....did they ever think that leaving an open flame surrounded by straw and hay beside a cow would end any differently???? I mean, I would have been shocked if the town DIDN"T burn down.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Yes, I actually am saying a 'sparkler' could cause your city to burn. However, you need to understand that the definition of sparkler, legally and depending on the state you're in, can vary. A sparkler that most people think of (the 12 inch handheld jobbies) is NOT what is sold exclusively as a sparkler in CT. Every single thing in a legal fireworks store in CT is 'sparkler' by legal definition, and many have the fire power to start a fire that an untrained homeowner might not be able to stop quickly.

In addition, a fire that begins on the outside of a building in a historic district with lots of old wood and home/businesses close together and with open trusses can spread VERY rapidly, and do significant damage very quickly.

 

[JR6ooo4]

A cow knocking a candle burnt down Chicago. So anything is possible. I was googling Sparklers damages. There are pages and pages of fires that have been started with sparklers

please apologize to the cow you have maligned. heheheheheee

it has been proven that is not what happened. Chicago has even passed an ordinance absolving Mrs. O'leary of all claims for damage.


Mikeeee

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

Boy those cows sure got a life sentence....did they ever think that leaving an open flame surrounded by straw and hay beside a cow would end any differently???? I mean, I would have been shocked if the town DIDN"T burn down.

exactly!!! and you know the street I live on is full of hay and straw....

 

[JR6ooo4]

LOL do you think fires have changed since thing??

yes they have, or at least what is burning has.

plastics and most of everything else that would burn in a home will give off toxic fumes.

Mikeeee

 

[soupy11]

exactly!!! and you know the street I live on is full of hay and straw....

It's almost like building a huge dirigible and filling it with some of the most flammable, explosive gas that we can find.

 

[shortbun]

1. Guys, the cow kicking over the candle was merely speculation. My son did a lengthy report on that fire including a model. lol!

2. If you don't like the laws in your city, start a referendum to get them taken off the books. OR-run for office. While I agree that the sparkler being included in the fireworks ban is overkill, it would also have been hard to outline specifics on what was and wasn't included. Perhaps the police will be enforcing at their discretion. The ban where we vacation is on anything that separates or shoots into the air - bottle rocket type things all the way up to the big stuff. That legislation began because a house was hit and burned to the ground before the fire fighters could get to it in 4th of July traffic.

 

[happygirl]

My apologies to Mrs. O Leary and her cow

I still think that Sparklers could do some serious damages,

 

[luvmy3]

Yes, I actually am saying a 'sparkler' could cause your city to burn. However, you need to understand that the definition of sparkler, legally and depending on the state you're in, can vary. A sparkler that most people think of (the 12 inch handheld jobbies) is NOT what is sold exclusively as a sparkler in CT. Every single thing in a legal fireworks store in CT is 'sparkler' by legal definition, and many have the fire power to start a fire that an untrained homeowner might not be able to stop quickly.

Maybe if you had said this in your first post it would have been understood what you meant. If you ask anyone what a sparkler is they are going to assume its that hand held thing that shoots off sparks. In fact in NY they are actually one of the only *fireworks* that are legal.

 

[barkley]

Welcome to Alexandria, VA, folks. A great historical city where if you have any sort of firework including sparklers(!!!!) they will arrest you and fine you 2,500.....

Way to celebrate the great freedoms of America by putting such extreme laws in place!!!
What are the laws in your town in re: to fireworks??? Are they allowed??

no go on any kind (we don't live in city limits so we're governed by the county) and they can prosecute and fine on 4 separate charges-illegal possesion, illegal transport (if you bought them and took them away from the place where they were purchased it's "tansporting"), illegal dishcharge and illegal public display (someone saw you and reported you, or the police or fire department observed it's considered "public").

one spark from a sparkler would likely have my property up and blazing in seconds (not for lack of maintaining a fireline-i have protected "wet lands" i can't cut back but at this time of year there's not much wet to them). have a friend who had just moved into a new home most of their possessions in the garage awaiting unpacking. she ran to the store and came home 20 minutes later to see the fire department trying to keep the flames from spreading from her detached garage to the house (garage and contents were a total loss). neighbor's child was playing with a sparkler that "sparked" him so he threw it


i liked the arrange one town we used to live near had. there was a designated area (one of the highschool football fields) that safe/sane's were permitted. fire department stood nearby just in case. fun for the kids and pretty cool to see a sea of roman candles and sparklers.