June 25

Fourth of July and Fire Works

            The Fourth of July and fireworks have a long tradition. As early as 1777, one year after the Declaration of Independence was signed, there are reports of “bells being rung, guns fired, candles lighted and firecrackers set off”. However, the celebrations were more subdued as the war for independence wore on. Our second president John Adams voiced his thoughts in a letter to his wife Abigail. “I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other…”.
            In Boston, July 4th became the major patriotic holiday after the war ended in 1783, replacing March 5th which marked the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. Massachusetts lays claim to the first official celebration in 1781 but in 1783 North Carolina was the first state to issue an order to celebrate the independence of the country on July 4th. It took 87 years for the federal government to give their employees the day off – without pay – in 1870. In 1938 the day off became a paid holiday, and in 1941 Congress declared July 4th a federal holiday.
            The state of Colorado has defined legal fireworks in state statute, but for the sake of brevity, legal amateur fireworks do not fly in the air, no firecrackers and there are some size limitations. In 2007 they also modified what the counties could do in terms of banning fireworks. For clarification, municipalities and the one county that is home rule have the option of regulating fireworks in a more stringent manner, hence the ban on all fireworks in Fountain and Colorado Springs. For counties like El Paso, which are an arm of the state, we are bound by state statute 30-15-401(n.7) regarding fireworks.
            The 2007 change allows the county to prohibit the sale of legal fireworks for a period of not more than one year except for the period between May 31 and July 5 unless there is a specific finding of high fire danger, which is also defined in state statute, but that ruling comes from the county fire marshal (the Sheriff or his designee). Short version of a long story is the commissioners do not have the authority to permanently ban fireworks, we could keep them from being sold around New Years but not the Fourth of July.
            I don’t get the feeling the commissioners were looking to ban fireworks, it’s not the legal fireworks that cause problems, it’s the ones that are already illegal.  But Colorado statute pretty well defines what we can do and that is not just where fireworks are concerned.

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