House Bill 1834 redefines what constitutes permissible fireworks in Virginia.

Why should this concern you?

Among the many things this bill does, it unintentionally changes how the sales and storage of permissible fireworks are regulated on private property. The one thing it doesn’t do is promote public safety. In a nutshell, storage and sales of permissible fireworks will be exempt from any regulations if HB1834 passes.

What does this mean? One thing that is of concern are the rural areas of Virginia. NFPA 1124, the new fireworks regulation proposed by the fireworks industry, is going to allow for 600 square feet of sales area and 250 pounds of storage in a sprinklered building.

The first problem, the sprinkler system was not designed for that type of hazard; if the building had a sprinkler system to start with. Second, according to research you can store 12,000 pounds of fireworks in a 600 square foot area. Third, NFPA 1124 conflicts with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code. Most buildings were not designed for this type of fire load.

Changes made to Title 27 of the Code of Virginia will exempt private property from regulation. The change says the provisions shall not apply to sales, storage, use, possession, ignition, etc., on private property. What will limit this to 600 square feet?

OK, I still do not see why I need to worry about this. This is why you should worry; in rural areas of Virginia, fire protection is predominately provided by volunteer forces. Most of the volunteers respond from home. This adds to the response time. This increased response time is an accepted norm. The increased response time allows for longer burn time. Most of these areas do not enjoy being able to preplan buildings or have inspection reports to rely on when responding to fires.

So, in a building on Main Street in Marion (Smyth County), Tappahannock (Essex County), or Front Royal (Warren County) someone got a good deal on a building lease and a better deal on their fireworks they plan to distribute and sale at multiple fireworks stands around the area. They truck in several hundred thousand pounds of fireworks unbeknownst to anyone; and even if anyone knew, its private property. When this bill passes there will be nothing that can be done.

The building lights off at 2 AM. With the pre burn time the building detonates about the time firefighters pull up outside. How many firefighters from these areas, or any other area in the state, are going to be killed?

This bill has already passed the house. Please start calling your senators and tell them HB1834 is bad for Virginia. For additional information, details and questions that still haven’t been addressed with this bill, please go to http://www.vfpa.org/hb1834/hb1834.html.