Local fireworks booths focus on safe, fun Fourth of July

Erica Johnson

Monday, July 2, 2001 | 10:02 a.m.

More than 150 fireworks stands have been offering "Safe and Sane" sparklers, fountains and the like since Thursday, when they were allowed to open.

The local booths, run by independent nonprofit groups, are allowed to sell only fireworks dubbed "Safe and Sane," which were tested by the fire department in February.

"Some people are disappointed that we only have legal fireworks but they still like what we have," Katy Soule, 16, said as she worked at the stand for Sign Design Theatre, a deaf awareness theater youth group. They were setting up in the parking lot of Circle K convenience store on Valley Verde Drive and Sunset Road in Henderson.

"Most people want to be safe. That's why they come here," she said.

Fireworks in the booth range in price from sparklers for 50 cents to a family pack for $200. Soule said the biggest sellers each year are colored smoke balls, screechers, and colored fountains.

Sign Design expects to earn about $800 from the booth, which is the group's biggest fund-raiser each year. Soule said the proceeds will go toward funding a trip to Disneyland and improvements to the group's studio on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Booths must close Wednesday night, and even the safe fireworks will be illegal come Thursday.

The presence of "Safe and Sane" fireworks booths in the Las Vegas Valley doesn't stop those who want a more explosive celebration. The same day booths were allowed to open, Las Vegas fire officials confiscated 158 pounds of illegal fireworks delivered to a Summerlin dry cleaners.

Spokesman Tim Szymanski said homes are destroyed each year because of fires started by illegal fireworks. Last year, a 12-year-old boy was injured after making a bottle bomb and two serious building fires resulted in $425,000 in damage, he said.

While fire officials in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Clark County usually respond to about 300 incidents each day, officials last year had 635 emergency responses on the Fourth of July, he said.

Fire officials said any type of fireworks that fly through the air, twirl on the ground, or explodes is illegal and can't be used in Clark County.

People who possess or use illegal fireworks can be fined up to $1,000 or sentenced to six months in jail.

Fire officials suggest people attend the valley's professional fireworks displays, held at this year at Cashman Field, Hills Park in Summerlin, or the Stratosphere.

For those who choose to do fireworks at home, fire officials suggest they adhere to these safety tips: