Jul 2, 2008 8:15 pm US/Eastern
A Closer Look At Fireworks: Do's, Don'ts & Safety
(KDKA)
As the Fourth of July nears, it seems fireworks boutiques have blossomed on every major road in our area.
"Everybody that walks in there, the first question they ask, 'Is it legal? I didn't think we were allowed to have it in Pennsylvania,' but they do," says Lucias Hardwick, of the Three Rivers Praise & Worship Center.
In fact, certain types of fireworks have been legal for retail sale in Pennsylvania for some time, and a legislative loosening of the legal leash in 2004 took novelty fireworks to the streets.
And many local people have their favorite kinds of fireworks.
"You have to get a noise you have to hear something," says Zach Nordstrom. "You have to see something spectacular. You have to see something good."
At I-70 Fireworks at the Dallas Pike exit in West Virginia, and at Prism and Phantom a few miles north in Ohio, business is steady with customers looking for the good stuff.
"We can sell to out-of-state and we sell to people all over the United States. You have to provide a picture ID proving you are from outside West Virginia," says Jason Weaver, of I-70 Fireworks.
That means a Pennsylvanian can legally buy fireworks that are illegal in Pennsylvania as long as you sign a form promising to take them out of West Virginia.
"I can't control what they do when they leave our store," said Weaver.
But the state police fire marshal says it may be legal in West Virginia, but once you bring those fireworks back across the state line, you are violating Pennsylvania law and risking a hefty fine, even before you set them off.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Stumble It!
