ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The 4th of July holiday is multiple months away, but City of Liberal leadership is already thinking ahead by announcing some changes to the fireworks ordinance.
The changes were discussed at a recent special Liberal City Commission meeting, and an official vote will take place at a future meeting.
“Last year, the commission approved Ordinance No. 4635 amending what the City of Liberal allows in terms of dates and times for shooting and popping off fireworks for the 4th of July holiday,” Building Services Director Keith Bridenstine said. “We made it through last year's holiday, and afterward, staff came together and talked about some issues that came up. We met with the majority of the leadership team, the Liberal Fire Department, the Building Department and other leaders, and we put together some revisions to close loopholes and clarify a few things. There aren't really any major changes, but these revisions should help for the 2026 4th of July holiday. One of the first changes is within the definition of fireworks section, I added the Kansas Fire Marshal's number to reference back to the state rules that should help clarify why Liberal's rules are the way they are. There was also a typo that was fixed from 'canes' to 'cakes.'”
That was not the only change that may be seen, Bridenstine said.
“In 7-702 (FIREWORKS PROHIBITED) Section B, Walmart and other places carry those little confetti party poppers and other similar fireworks. We had a convenience store call and ask about them since they're very defined and very limited, so we went ahead and added an addendum regarding novelties that states 'Novelties such as Pull Apart Booby Traps, Party Poppers, Novelty Snakes, Snappers and Novelty Smoke Devices (as defined in A.P.A 87-1) shall not fall under this ordinance,'” Bridenstine said. “Then, in 7-704 (EXCEPTIONS RELATING TO THE SALE OF FIREWORKS), we cut the sales days down, and sales will now only occur on the days when fireworks are allowed to be set off. Part of the reasoning behind that is, people buy fireworks a week or more ahead of time and they can't help but set them off, which causes a lot of complaints, so we thought if there were fewer days for fireworks sales, that would lead to fewer complaints being called in.”
With safety in mind, changes in regards to insurance and discharge violations were also added, Bridenstine said.
“In 7-705 (LICENSE FOR SALE OF FIREWORKS REQUIRED; FEE; ISSUANCE), we realized we had insurance in other sections, but I went ahead and added Section D, which states 'No permit shall be approved unless the applicant furnishes a certificate of public liability insurance for a minimum of $1,000,000, written by an insurance carrier licensed to do business in Kansas, conditioned as being non-cancellable with the exception of giving 10 days advance written notice to the city clerk In the event of cancellation of the insurance, the permit shall automatically be revoked and void,'” Bridenstine said. “We also made multiple addendums to 7-708 (DISCHARGE VIOLATIONS), and that has been changed to now read 'It shall be unlawful for any person to ... Ignite or discharge fireworks into, under, or from car or vehicle, whether moving or standing still, or on a public roadway or the right-of-way adjoining a public roadway; Discharge fireworks within 100 feet of any place of institution as defined by National Fire Protection Association Standard No. 101, which is adopted by reference in K.A.R. 22-1-3, or any retail fireworks stand or facility where fireworks are stored; Participate in the discharge of fireworks and not make reasonable effort to remove and discard of any spent tubes, paper casings, plastic caps, wire or wood components, and unexploded duds, which may litter private property or public property; To permit or encourage any of the above violations. The heading was changed because we wanted to be aligned with the Kansas Fire Marshal rules, and we also had a couple of those violations last year.”
Finally, Bridenstine said, some addendums were added to clarify penalties for ordinance violations.
“We also added an addendum under 7-716 (VIOLATION; PENALTY), which states 'A violation of these articles documented by city staff shall bar the person from obtaining city permits and license related to fireworks for a period of one year,'” Bridenstine said. “We had a couple issues in that regard last year, and [Fire Marshal] Cody Regier was wanting to take enforcement action, but as the ordinance currently stands, violators must be convicted in a court of law for the violation to be valid. Basically, if there's a violation witnessed, and there's documentation by city staff, we can bar them from selling and/or discharging fireworks the following year.”
Overall, Bridenstine said, he hopes the changes will help the 4th of July holidays remain safe for people in the community, and work will definitely be going on to spread the ordinance.
“I know there was an idea to make large signs featuring the rules of the ordinance, but the Liberal Fire Department decided to go with the idea of printing brochures instead and handing them out to each customer as they checked out with their purchases,” Bridenstine said. “I don't know what the plan is for this year, but I'm sure there will be something done to spread the word about what this ordinance says.”
