By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

ban ending

Fireworks to be legal in Red Deer following tie vote

Apr 15, 2019 | 11:39 PM

Thanks to a tie vote and ultimately an unexpected decision by city council, consumer fireworks will soon be legal to use in Red Deer.

As of this month Alberta has chosen to be regulated by the National Fire Code, as opposed to its own provincial code which has been in place since 1984. Existing rules remain in place until the new code can be officially adopted by the province.

The incoming National Fire Code does not contain policy around consumer fireworks, which include sparklers, roman candles, fountains, volcanoes, mines, snakes and 2300+ other varieties. It does not include firecrackers.

This leaves municipalities free to craft their own regulatory policy around consumer fireworks.

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Two weeks ago, city council passed first reading of a bylaw containing a provision to allow sparklers to be sold only to anyone 18 or older.

Not only did that amendment fail at second reading on a 4-4 vote Monday (Tara Veer, Lawrence Lee, Buck Buchanan, Dianne Wyntjes voting no), so did the overall bylaw (Frank Wong, Lawrence Lee, Buck Buchanan, Dianne Wyntjes voting no).

Councillor Ken Johnston, who lit the sparkler debate at the last meeting, was absent Monday and could not be reached for comment.

As a result, not only will Red Deerians soon no longer be prevented from using consumer fireworks, they won’t even need a permit. Businesses who wish to sell them will still need a specific type of license.

Red Deer Emergency Services Chief Ken McMullen expressed concern over the incoming changes.

“My goal in this entire process has been around safety. I’ve been in this business for 23 years, and I have seen injuries, I’ve seen fires caused by fireworks,” he said.

“So I certainly wouldn’t be saying that I’m thrilled by this. And I don’t want to guess where the councillors were coming from, but I attempted to continually talk about safety, and my key message was that we were trying to maintain the exact same process we’ve had in place for 35 years.”

McMullen told council they have had zero complaints over the years related to fireworks. In addition, according to statistics from the Office of the Alberta Fire Commissioner, there were only two reported injuries from fireworks between 2001 and 2010 throughout the entire province.

In a council agenda report, it’s noted that fire marshals from Calgary, Fort McMurray, County of Strathcona, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer agreed that consumer fireworks cause “untold damage and injuries.”

A letter provided to rdnewsNOW written by the Canadian National Fireworks Association addressed to Mayor Tara Veer and council, states the organization conducted a phone poll of Red Deer residents since council passed first reading.

According to the letter, 62 per cent of respondents said they have either purchased or used consumer fireworks within the city, 68 per cent agreed that they are safe when used by a responsible adult, and 73 per cent said they believe consumer fireworks should be buyable to celebrate special events.

“The Association believes there is a great opportunity to promote safety awareness to the residents of Red Deer with legislation that permits the use of consumer fireworks as the majority of participants already believe in proper and safe use,” writes Melanie Sutherland, Acting Executive Director.

McMullen adds that administration could propose a new bylaw to regulate consumer fireworks at some point down the road.