The setting off of illegal fireworks on Thursday night led to two separate blazes, one at the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet store in Aberdeen and another at a Jarrettsville home, fire officials said.
The Jarrettsville fire was reported shortly after 9:20 p.m. at a residence on the 2300 block of Northcliff Drive. According to a statement from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, he home’s owner was asleep when a neighbor contacted her to tell her rear porch vinyl awning was on fire. A neighbor extinguished the fire with a garden hose prior to the arrival of 15 firefighters from the Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company.
Another neighbor, Daniel Moore, admitted to discharging illegal fireworks, one of which strayed into the woman’s yard and ignited the fire. The remaining fireworks were confiscated and a criminal citation was issues. Damage to the home was estimated at $2,000.
Less than an hour later, a passerby reported a fire on the roof of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in the Aberdeen Shopping Plaza. A total of 40 firefighters from the Aberdeen, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Level, and Susquehanna Hose fire companies brought the blaze under control in about 10 minutes.
Damage to the building was estimated at $7,000, and damages to its contents were estimated at $2,000. The fire was traced to the embers of illegal fireworks, which were seen being fired from the area behind the shopping center, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the State Fire Marshal’s Northeast Regional Office at 410-836-4844.
Food for thought:
Let’s compare the possesion and use of illegal fireworks to gun control laws, proposed and current.
Debate on.
Food for thought:
Let’s compare apples and oranges.
Gun ownership is provided for under the Constitution. Fireworks are not.
$2000 damage to the contents of Ollies. So the whole store was a loss….
Now THAT’S a good one Mr. Bill H!
deport anything illegal
If Fireworks were banned.. Oh wait, Oh. LOL
Just an observation…I’ve seen several reports about “illegal” fireworks here in MD. Is that suggesting that any firework that is ignited that is not part of some “official town display” is not legal? If so, how can that be? Fireworks can be purchased openly throughout the state – if they were illegal, shouldn’t those operations be shut down? But they are not. Maybe this a matter of citizens enjoying legally purchased fireworks but they have not paid the fee (graft) our said public servants feel is due for setting off a few bottle rockets and firecrackers? So before we label something “illegal” – how about we really understand what’s in play here. Seems to me like one of many money grabs by those lousy stewards of tax dollars…our beloved bureaucrats!
In MD, fireworks that are propelled from the ground prior to bursting (what everyone thinks of as “conventional” fireworks, as compared to “sparklers” which remain on the ground and propel only burning material into the air) are not available for consumers. PA law states that vendors can only sell sparklers to PA residents, but there is no restriction on what people without a PA ID can buy, thus the gigantic fireworks stores just over the border.
Thanks Kharn – I’ve never stopped at the little shacks here in MD to see what they’re selling – I always assumed that whatever it was, it must be legal due to the very public nature of their sales. So does your comment mean that any airborne firework is illegal in MD? I find it hard to believe that anyone would be dropping money on stuff that sits on the ground and sizzles and flashes. Why am I not surprised that anything that might cause enjoyment is not legal in this State?
When I lived in Joppatowne, one of my neighbors must have been a federal employee because he’d launch off fireworks whenever it was a federal holiday. Fireworks for Columbus Day was always a little odd.
Things that cause enjoyment can also cause fires… especially when the people using them have little to no regard for the safety of anyone or any property not in their immediate enjoyment zone. People do drop money on the fireworks that sit on the ground, esp if they are aiming just to entertain little kids. I’ve always assumed those are legal (because the sparks generally stay within a very small area). I would love to see the laws regarding illegal fireworks enforced Before something catches fire. In recent years, the stuff I see going off in my neighborhood is the same stuff I used to only be able to see if I attended a formal (permit required) fireworks show. I’ve heard, (not sure how valid) that the police only enforce when a complaint is called in?? I’m not one for BS lawsuits, but I’d sue the crap out of anyone that set my house on fire while using illegal fireworks.
Like all things in a relatively free society, it’s up to one’s decision-making and judgement. Cigarettes cause fires too, and property damage and even death. We’re free to make good and bad decisions…and you obviously have a right to sue. So it would seem that there are laws on the book regarding fireworks and they are not enforced – just like many other laws. I’d “love” to see useless laws that aren’t enforced removed from the books – it wouldn’t change a thing. Most people would still make good decisions, some wouldn’t, and we’d sue the ones that cause damage just like everything else in life.