Wilkes-Barre Mayor Brown: Pending Pa. fireworks law a dud

WILKES-BARRE — When the Fourth of July show ended in Kirby Park, Mayor George Brown heard the booms and saw the flares of fireworks in neighborhoods afterward as he drove home.

Other than call in the locations to police, there was little Brown could do prevent the city from becoming a “war zone.”

Legislation awaiting the signature of Gov. Tom Wolf won’t be much help either, Brown noted Wednesday. He said he’s looking forward to taking up the issue at next month’s meeting when mayors from Harrisburg and Easton join the group formed after he took office in 2020.

“We are very much going to discuss this in detail,” Brown said.

The discussion is expected to focus on giving cities the ability to impose stricter fines and penalties for violations of the state law that prohibits a person from igniting a firework 150 feet from a building or vehicle or on city property.

“It’s still illegal to set off fireworks in the city of Wilkes-Barre,” Brown said.

But Brown said he’s spoken to residents fearful errant fireworks will start a house fire and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who seek cover when they hear the blasts outside. Pets also are affected by the noise, he said.

The passage of Act 43 in 2017 that made the sale of consumer grade fireworks legal in the state created the problem and Brown and others mayors have called for repealing it. The law created a new revenue stream for the state that imposed an additional 12% tax on top of the 6% sales tax.

House Bill 2157 approved by the legislature on July 1 as an update to the existing law “will do little to assist law enforcement efforts with stricter local regulations,” said Brown who was joined in his criticism of it by Police Chief Joseph Coffay and Fire Chief Jay Delaney.

In the alternative, Brown said they would support allowing municipalities to increase the fines to $1,000 for those caught violating the state law.

The mayors mounted a similar protest last year. But Brown said he hoped the unified voice of the larger mayors’ group would rise above the noise of the fireworks.