Education key in illegal firework activity

Unauthorized firework activity during the Siesta Key Fourth of July fireworks show is a familiar and frustrating reality, said Sarasota County Fire Reviewer Don Damron yesterday the monthly Siesta Key Association meeting. 

However, Damron and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Scott Osborne said this year education would be a priority in extinguishing the burning issue.

Damron said according to Florida Statute 791 any firework that explodes or travels into the air is illegal – with a few infuriating loopholes. Railroad or fish hatchery owners can buy airborne and explodes. But bottle rockets and roman candles are relatively commonplace at the Fourth of July Celebration on Siesta Beach.

Osborne and Damron explained that visitors from different counties, who simply don’t know that types of fireworks are illegal in Sarasota County, make up a majority of violations.

To this end, the county plans to place digital billboards warning beach visitors about the use of illegal fireworks during the Fourth of July weekend, Osborne said. He also may use the loudspeakers on Sheriff’s Office vehicles to make public announcements around Siesta Key, as well.

“Two stores (in Sarasota County) sell what I call ‘the hot stuff’,” Damron said. But because of the loophole in the state statute, there is little he or the Sheriff’s Office can do to block sales.

A county ordinance passed in 2003 requires those who want to purchase illegal fireworks to buy wholesale and fill out an affidavit asserting they fall within the loophole previously discussed. This authorizes county fire inspectors to check the dwellings of buyers at any time to confirm the affidavit. Then inspectors can send a deputy if any wrongdoing is discovered.

Of the nine inspectors under Damron’s command, one is present at the Siesta Key fireworks show and two patrol the show on City Island.

“In the past I have targeted the dealers (of illegal fireworks), not the public,” Osborne said. “But that can change.”