Backyard fireworks don't fly

Fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts, but they're not illegal illegal...right?

Wrong.

Despite their apparent reputation as a bit of harmless patriotic summer fun, police departments and fire officials throughout the region say fireworks are dangerous - and sometimes deadly - and people caught with them stand a chance of facing consequences.

Under state law, anyone in possession of or setting off fireworks can be fined up to $100, and their fireworks will be confiscated. For those who sell fireworks, the penalties are tougher - fines of up to $1,000 and up to a year in jail.

Every year the state confiscates about five tons of illegal fireworks, which are then disposed of safely in an industrial incinerator, said officials at the state fire marshal's office yesterday.

"We have a contract with a company," Department of Fire Services spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said. "They schedule it for their low times, they cease all other operation and put specific fire protection measures in place just for this disposal process."

The fate of those people the fireworks are confiscated from is harder to pin down.

While local departments respond to calls of people shooting off fireworks around the holiday, exactly how far the law's long arm reaches often depends on the circumstances, police said.

"There are criminal charges that can be taken out for possession of fireworks," Hopkinton Police Chief Thomas Irvin said yesterday. "(But) I think, like most misdemeanors...there's some discretion on the part of the officer on what action they'll take.

"Based on the situation, I would expect charges to be taken out if it was flagrant or dangerous. We've had people go to the extent of having commercial-type pyrotechnic displays. They're more apt to face charges than someone who has a sparkler in their backyard."

And on a holiday that often includes generous amounts of social lubrication, how cooperative people are with police is also a factor in the decision about whether to summon a person to court or simply issue a warning.

In some cases, police said, particularly uncooperative people may also be arrested for disturbing the peace.

Surprisingly, Irvin said the number of fireworks incidents has dropped in recent years.

"It's not as much as some people might think," he said. "We get some complaints, but the typical outcome of those complaints is people don't hang around.

"In Hopkinton, we end up with a recycling bin (of confiscated fireworks,) that's a typical year."

"We do have a few complaints every year," Ashland Police Lt. David Beaudoin said. "But not a lot. ... It usually results in us going there one time, and people knock it off."

"We don't see it as often as we used to," Milford Police Chief Tom O'Loughlin said. "You still run into it, but not a whole lot. The biggest concern is just the safety.

"A lot of fireworks now are at a point where somebody that handles pyrotechnics (should be) handling it. If you're setting that thing off, and you're doing it in a neighborhood, where does it land?"

Lt. Joe Brooks of the Waltham Police Department's community service department said officers typically respond to a handful of complaints, and issue tickets only in the worst cases.

"If you have a neighborhood where people are being disturbed by fireworks and you've spoken to people maybe more than once, then obviously, they didn't learn the first time," he said. "If you have to come back a second time and people are being belligerent, obviously you have to deal with the situation."

For those who want to experience fireworks during the holiday, state Fire Marshal Stephen Coan had a message: Leave them to the pros.

In the past decade, Coan said, more than 40 people have been treated in emergency rooms for fireworks-related burns, and 677 fires and explosions involving fireworks were reported.

"You hate to think you're the Scrooge, or you're not being patriotic, but the fact is the results tell the story," he said.

(Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428 or preuell@cnc.com.)