A bill that would legalize the sale and use of fireworks in Connecticut is headed to the state Senate – much to the chagrin of first responders.
The bill would allow anyone 21 or over to buy fireworks and use them between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on any day.
Assistant Chief Schuyler Sherwood, of the Fairfield Fire Department, said that while fireworks are enjoyable to look at, they “create a large number of civilian injuries” and create “a good deal of property loss.”
The National Fire Protection Agency reports fireworks start an average of 18,500 fires per year.
Senators in favor of the bill argue that they get brought into the state regardless, so they might as well be taxed. That money would go toward the cancer support fund and regional fire schools, both of which have suffered cuts from the state.
Sherwood says that would come at a cost.
"I absolutely do not think it's worth the tax money…You're exposing more firefighters to injuries, it doesn't make a lot of sense," says Sherwood.