ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The calendar might just be at May at the moment, but local leaders are already making plans for the upcoming 4th of July holiday in terms of fireworks usage.
Tuesday evening saw Liberal Fire Chief Kelly Kirk talk to the Liberal City Commission about some recent changes made to the city’s fireworks ordinance.
“As you all might be aware, back in April, Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law Senate Bill 199 regulating the selling of and use of fireworks in the state of Kansas,” Kirk said. “According to information we received from the state fire marshal's office, one of the major changes was the period of time when fireworks can be sold, that period is extended from nine days to 18 days. That means seasonal fireworks will now be permitted to be sold from June 20 through July 7. Seasonal fireworks stands are still permitted and inspected at the local level, not the Kansas State Fire Marshal's office. Probably the biggest thing the new law did was create a new type of fireworks retail operation, and it's the permanent fireworks retailer, who will be permitted to sell consumer fireworks year-round. Unlike the seasonal fireworks retailers, they'll be required to have a building that operates permanently within the requirements of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the national standards and the Kansas Fire Prevention Code. One of the smaller things in the new law include a requirement for all consumer fireworks sales to be in person, you can't have anything shipped to you. Kansas law still doesn't restrict when fireworks can be shot off during the year, but it's still illegal to fire them at cars or from cars or under cars, within 100 feet of hospitals or nursing homes or similar facilities, retail fireworks stands, gas stations/fueling stations, etc. What all of that means for us cities and counties is the Kansas Fire Prevention Code still grants us the authority to prohibit and regulate the sale/handling of fireworks within our boundaries, and we still have control over when they're sold and/or discharged.”
With all of that in mind, Kirk said, LFD staff and other leaders decided it would be prudent to made some updates to what we do in Liberal, leading to the writing of Ordinance No. 4635 to replace Ordinance No. 4555 and regulate the selling and shooting of fireworks, along with some other minor changes to the current ordinance.
“One of the bigger changes is we’re decreasing the number of days fireworks can be shot off from three days down to two. This was done because one of the biggest complaints we hear over the 4th of July weekend is that fireworks are allowed to be shot off for too many days,” Kirk said. “This causes a big strain on many people as well as many pet owners, including the animal shelter. We'd originally had July 3, 4 and 5 as shooting days in case there was inclement weather, but this will now restrict fireworks shooting to July 3 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and then July 4 from 8 a.m. to midnight. This is causing undue hardship for residents within our community. The days for shooting fireworks will be July 3 and July 4, unless July 4 falls on a Friday. In this case, fireworks can be shot off July 4 and July 5 to allow for the weekend. We're also requiring person(s) wishing to obtain a license must do so on or before June 10 of the license year. This will allow both the Building Department and the Liberal Fire Department to review the license before it is issued. It was also decided to make the funds for the $2,500 license fee to be collected funds only. In the past, checks were allowed for payment and there has been a case where a check bounced. Collected funds will ensure that the payments are secured and accounted for before a license is issued. Those funds will need to be paid on or before June 24. Finally, for person(s) wishing to provide a public display of fireworks, the required amount for public liability insurance was raised from $500,000 to $1,000,000. Overall, there really aren't too many other major differences to our city ordinance aside from the days when the fireworks can be shot off. The dates of sale are the same and so are some of the other major aspects of the ordinance.”
Liberal Vice Mayor Matt Landry spoke in favor of the ordinance.
“I'm definitely okay with changing it from three days down to two as far as shooting fireworks off, but I'm wondering about the enforcement of that time frame and about the size of the fireworks being sold and shot off in the city limits,” Landry said. “I don't know if I'm comfortable with the larger mortar-style or rocket fireworks in the residential areas – some of them are absolutely huge, and not all of them make it into the upper atmosphere before actually exploding, and I know there are a lot of houses with the shake shingles, which are flammable. I also remember listening to fireworks being shot off until 2:30 or 3 a.m. the past couple years, which was really rough. What will be happening to make sure everything is actually enforced?”
“I have all of those same concerns, and all of those are complaints we've received. If every single person played by the rules of the ordinance, I don't think we'd have any problems. What our ordinance lays out ... it specifically prevents the sale of bottle rockets – which are illegal in Kansas – and what we used to call cherry bombs,” Kirk replied. “The reason for the permit and the time frame for the permit is to give the Building Department and Liberal Fire Department the chance to go out and inspect those seasonal fireworks stands vendors and go in and inspect everything, and if there's anything that's not allowed, we make them take those out of their inventory. If you buy fireworks from a stand licensed in the City of Liberal, they should be legal for you to shoot off. When this ordinance was passed, I was shocked at the size and power of the consumer fireworks these days, they're not at all like when I was a kid. There have also been advances in technology in the building of the fireworks, like the paper burning out before actually hitting the ground. There are of course going to be some malfunctions, but there have definitely been advances made in fireworks technology that makes them safer to shoot off. I'm actually not sure what to do about the tremendous amount of fireworks around town every year, and as far as enforcement of the designated hours and all of that, it seems like the day the fireworks stands open, there are fireworks being shot off. We'll probably starting hearing them June 27 and then they'll build to a crescendo July 4.”
Kirk added enforcement can be very difficult.
“In conversations with the city manager, she likened it to shooting a BB gun at a freight train, it's almost impossible to stop with the people and staff we have on hand to go out and enforce everything. Once they're shot off, and then by the time you get there, it's too late to do anything,” Kirk said. “All we can really do is ask the public to be respectful – we want you to be able to shoot off your fireworks and have a fun holiday, but PLEASE follow the rules, be safe, and show some courtesy to your neighbors, because they might have pets that are scared or maybe have some obligation(s) the next day. I will also say, since we officially legalized fireworks, we haven't seen a dramatic increase in fires like I expected we would – in fact, last year was our best year, we only had four grass fires that could be attributed to fireworks handling. In 2023, we received 13 fire calls, one of which involved a structure, and then in 2022, we got 12 fire calls, one of which involved a structure and another involved a car. We've never reached the 30 or 40 calls I remember receiving when I was with the Seward County Fire Department, and that was at a point where we were on the trucks all day long.”
City commissioner Jeff Parsons also spoke in favor of the ordinance.
“I'll somewhat echo what Matt said – if the cutoff time is 11 p.m. but the people shooting them off get done at 11:30 or maybe a short time after that, some grace could be extended there, but when it's 2 or 3 a.m., you're just annoying anyone and everyone in the neighborhood at that point, and THAT needs to be shut down,” Parsons said. “They're not hard to find, it's basically shot after shot after shot until the wee hours, and to me, that's equivalent to someone setting up a huge speaker and play loud and annoying music for hours on end. The boundaries can be pushed a little bit – within reason, of course – but when it gets to that point, it's a public nuisance, so I would definitely like to see more enforcement to help make sure peace ultimately reigns. The extra noise is the biggest complaint I hear from people in town, and I would like to see that extra enforcement.”
“And we do plan on having a meeting with Police Chief Pinkston and Fire Chief Kirk and a few others to come up with a plan to help with enforcement, because we do know there are varying opinions when it comes to that,” Liberal City Manager Scarlette Diseker added. “But we wanted to present something to the public that's proactive and sensible without taking the joy out of the holiday.”
Liberal Mayor Jose Lara expressed some doubts about portions of the ordinance.
“I'm actually not sure how I feel about going from two days to three, because I feel like as people have gotten used to the fireworks, there are actually fewer shot off the week of the holiday,” Lara said. “There are obviously still fireworks shot off, but not quite as much. I feel like if we go down to two days, there will be people who start shooting off outside of that window much more often. Then it becomes a question of is the problem the number of days or is the problem people not respecting their neighbor(s)? There’s definitely a lot to consider.”
After some more discussion, the commission ultimately voted 3-1 (with Lara voting no and commissioner Janeth Vazquez absent) to approve the ordinance.
