New Kensington officials want local control over use of fireworks

New Kensington will urge its state representatives to repeal the law that legalized fireworks in Pennsylvania.

In a resolution city council approved Monday, the city said it will make the request “since calls for more local control over the usage of commercial fireworks has been largely ignored by the Pennsylvania Legislature.”

Mayor Tom Guzzo said the city wants the ability to set its own, more restrictive laws over the use of fireworks and to increase penalties for violations.

State Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, whose district includes New Kensington, said he would be willing to consider giving municipalities more local authority over fireworks.

Dermody said he has heard the complaints.

“It’s one thing to have some fireworks in the backyard at dusk and another thing to be doing it all night,” he said. “We’ll take a look at the law.”

State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, also represents New Kensington. His chief of staff, Tim Joyce, said distance setbacks and time limits are two of Brewster’s top priorities on fireworks.

“We don’t want people interfering with their neighbors’ enjoyment of their holidays by having to listen to five hours of sometimes ear-splitting fireworks,” Joyce said. “We need to put more teeth into the restrictions.”

After pursuing amendments to the law last year, the Pennsylvania Municipal League is calling for its repeal, its executive director, Rick Schuettler, said. The league has 116 members comprising cities, boroughs and townships.

“It’s just gotten way out of hand,” Schuettler said. “The money the state is receiving from it isn’t worth the physical personal injuries that have taken place as well as the property damage. It’s creating an unsafe atmosphere in our municipalities.”

The league wants municipalities to be able to set their own rules.

“This is just an unenforceable law,” Schuettler said. “It’s just not working out there.”

Joyce said Brewster believes amending the existing law will be more effective than repealing it and banning fireworks again.

“If we repeal, we’re going to go back to the practice of people traveling to other states and purchasing the fireworks there and bringing them back,” he said.

Guzzo said New Kensington wants control over the danger and noise from fireworks. He said residents have been complaining that they are being set off too close to homes and too late at night — sometimes into the early morning hours.

City residents were complaining about fireworks in 2018. Complaints about fireworks increased this year across the region as professional, public displays were canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic.

“This past summer with the dry weather, it’s not been good,” Guzzo said. “We don’t want people doing it at 1 in the morning, 2 in the morning. We need to be able to stop that, too.”

The state law requires a distance of 150 feet from occupied buildings, but Guzzo said New Kensington would want it to be 500 feet. The city would not allow fireworks to be set off after 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends.

While a 500-foot restriction would make the use of fireworks illegal in a “fair portion” of the city, Guzzo said he believes there would still be places where they could be used, but added he would have to check.

“It’s not that we’re trying to be kill-joys. It’s a matter of let’s all do it reasonably and play by the rules,” he said.

New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said his department does not keep track of fireworks complaints.

Tracking fireworks complaints is part of what New Kensington Council said it wants. Guzzo said the city wants reporting of fireworks incidents to the state Fire Commission to be mandated, and for that information to be collected in a database available to first responders.