Inspectors out in force checking safety of Nebraska firework stands

With 643 temporary fireworks dealers open for business across Nebraska this week, inspectors with the State Fire Marshals Office are in the midst of their busiest season of the year. Over the 10-day stretch, fireworks can be legally sold. It’s a demanding job to see who’s following rules designed to help make sure the stands operate safely.

The state issues permits and intends to inspect every location in an effort to prevent accidents that could lead to a deadly disaster. Omaha and Lincoln fire officials inspect facilities within city limits.

The inspectors fanning out across the state have specific items in mind when they arrive at a stand set up in a tent, semi-trailer, or vacant building.

“There's just a lot of things you got to look for,” said Interim State Fire Marshall Doug Hohbein, "including how fireworks are stored, the number and location of customer exits, and, not surprisingly, assuring the material of the tent has to be flame retardant.”

The number and location of pressurized water fire extinguishers in the tents are the most common violations. How and where the products are stored and displayed can raise safety issues.

“They've got to be a certain distance away from the exits, and can't stack the fireworks too high,” Hohbein said. “Those are easy things to fix, and we work with them and make sure that it's done correctly."

By the end of an inspection, “everybody walks away pretty happy,” most of the time, he claimed.

Hohbein said that over the years, there’s been a decline in violations involving the selling of powerful, illegal explosives by the seasonal vendors.

A report from The American Fireworks Standards Laboratory, the national organization that tests consumer fireworks, came to a similar conclusion. The number of violations of AFSL standards, including “overpacking” the amount of explosives or using illegal chemicals, has been declining for many years,” according to its annual report.

“Back in the day, when I was in the field,” he recalled. “It wasn't unusual for us to confiscate fireworks, to take licenses, and to shut them down because they had items that were very unsafe.”
More recently, there have been a few instances where retailers in Nebraska have been caught selling large ordinance explosives like M-80s.

While their have been spectacular instances of fires and explosions at fireworks retailers and warehouses (like this weeks blast in California) the biggest danger is from misuse by individuals during celebrations.

Last year in the United States, an estimated 14,700 people were injured by fireworks, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Injuries jumped 52% in just one year. Eleven fatalities were recorded.