Published: July 04, 2008 12:30 am      

FIREWORKS: Buffalo fire underscores danger

In the hands of trained professionals, fireworks crackle and pop, lighting up the night sky with an array of vivid colors.

In the hands of a 6-year-old, something far less spectacular — but much more dangerous — is likely to occur.

It did Tuesday in Buffalo.

Police say a Town of Tonawanda man was responsible for selling the fireworks that wound up in the hands of a 6-year-old boy who ignited one of them. That touched off a blaze on Vermont Street, on the city’s West Side, that left six families homeless and caused more than $100,000 damage.

Leon Sapp Jr., 49, of Midland Avenue, has been charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks and endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center. Police also seized approximately $1,000 in fireworks from Sapp’s vehicle.

Tuesday’s blaze is a perfect example of what can go wrong with fireworks, said Town of Tonawanda Police Lt. Nick Bado. “You don’t know who’s going to end up getting their hands on the fireworks,” he said. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s an unknown risk that’s not worth taking.”

Town police have received 27 fireworks-related calls since April, and, like other police agencies in the Tonawandas, haven’t seized any significant amounts of fireworks this year. Still, fireworks are used consistently throughout the town around this time each year, despite the dangers involved, Bado said.

“A lot of people don’t feel it’s criminal,” he said. “They just don’t know. A lot of times we show up and they’re like, ‘What’s wrong?’”

In cases where a resident has only a small quantity of fireworks, police typically will issue a warning. As violations, the charges for fireworks are minor, unless it’s a large quantity. Thus far, police locally have not seized anything of significance, but police in Buffalo seized $50,000 worth of fireworks late last month.

With the Fourth of July falling on a Friday, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department is prepared for a busy weekend, said Capt. Bruce Elliott, adding that Newfane and Olcott will be centers of fireworks activity.

Hampering police agencies’ efforts to crack down on fireworks here is the fact that although they’re illegal in New York, they are obtainable in bordering states and in Canada. Colorful billboards at the New York-Pennsylvania border advertise the availability of a wide array of fireworks at any number of retailers there. Many Western New Yorkers make the two-hour drive to Pennsylvania, sometimes purchasing thousands of dollars’ worth of fireworks to sell to co-workers or neighbors.

“When you’ve got a guy in the neighborhood willing to put on a display, it attracts a lot of people, which obviously then increases the danger of kids getting involved,” Bado said.

Fireworks usage is similar to motorists who speed or talk on their cell phone while driving, police say; people know it’s illegal, but that doesn’t stop them from engaging in the activity.

Nationally, 11 people died and approximately 9,800 — 42 percent of which were children under 15 — were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks related injuries last year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s annual fireworks report, which also states that “fireworks-related injuries display a statistically significant upward trend from 1996 to 2007.”

City of Tonawanda Lt. Fredric Foels remembers his one and only encounter with fireworks many years ago. He lit a firecracker and the wick burned quicker than anticipated, exploding in his hand. Foels wasn’t seriously injured, but the experience turned him away from fireworks for good.

“There’s too many mishaps,” Foels said. “All that stuff is too volatile. You don’t know if they’re made properly. That’s why they’re illegal in New York.”

The overwhelming message police have for people this weekend is to leave the fireworks in the hands of the professionals. After all, they say, it’s not worth losing a few fingers, or worse. “They don’t grow back,” said Bado. “We’re not starfish.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.