Fiery profit
Fireworks for sale early this year

Jim Peterson steps away after placing a display of Laser Candle fireworks at the Ellis Tanner fireworks tent just outside the Gallup city limits in this June 23, 2008, file photo. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / File photo

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Independent correspondent

GALLUP — Although it’s a month away, Ellis Tanner is beginning to think more and more about the Fourth of July.

Tanner, a local Indian trader, is one of about a dozen people in Gallup who profit from the Fourth of July, selling fireworks in tents that are starting to go up this week in preparation for the sale beginning June 20 around Gallup.

It’s somewhat of a controversial business but one that is supported wholeheartedly by families who want to spend a little time on the Fourth of July going out into their yard and light up $20 or $30 worth of fireworks with their kids or grandkids.

For people like Mike Chavez, the Fourth of July wouldn’t be the same without that traditional get-together. “The kids love it,” he said.

And parents love it even more nowadays because of changes that have been going on in recent decades to reduce the dangers of setting off fireworks.

“I feel safer with my kids now,” Chavez said.

Tanner remembers the 1970s when it seemed that you could sell anything. “People were getting a little reckless then,” he said, mentioning the bottle rockets that had crooked sticks that allowed the fireworks to go anywhere — even the roof of a neighbor. If you get reckless in Gallup with fireworks, now it could cost you $500.

In the past couple of decades, companies that sell fireworks have gotten a lot more responsible, because of demands from dealers like Tanner and because of lawsuits that threatened to bankrupt many of them.

In the Southwest, the right to use fireworks during the Fourth of July holidays has to come with a big dose of responsibility because of the drought conditions and the possibility of having the joy of setting off fireworks being replaced by the anguish of watching one’s house burn down.

In the old days there was also the threat of losing an eye or a finger because of fireworks like cherry bombs which created a small explosion.

Tanner pointed out that there has been no serious fires or injury in this area for the past several years and he credits that to parents and children having “respect for the product.”

Still, the city and the county enact laws each year to try and control the use of fireworks.

Last week, the City Council approved a modification of the city’s fireworks code. The new policy doesn’t change what is allowed but it sets safety standards and provisions that would allow families to be cited if they use the wrong types of fireworks or use them irresponsibly. They could face a fine of up to $500.

It also allows police or fire officials to confiscate illegal fireworks, but Gallup Police said that is easier said than done.

Responding to reports of illegal fireworks has a low priority, he said. “It could take us half an hour to respond to the call and by then all of the fireworks have been lit,” he said.

One of the problems faced in McKinley County is the fact that each jurisdiction has different laws dealing with the use of fireworks.

The Navajo Nation bans them altogether. McKinley County allows a wide assortment of fireworks, such as aerials, and the city allows most of the same items the county does except for aerials.

But the firework stands, located in the county, sell what is allowed in the county and no effort is made to determine if the buyer lives in the city or the reservation, so basically anything that is all right in the county is sold to everyone.

For people like Tanner, selling fireworks is profitable, but Tanner said he feels that his competitors, for the most part, act responsibly.

That was true, however, about four years ago when this area was in the midst of the worst drought in years. The drought was so bad that Tanner decided that it wouldn’t be proper to sell that year, so he did not. His competitors did, but Tanner said he was happy to see that a lot of the families in this area realized that igniting fireworks under those conditions was not responsible.

“I understand that my competitors didn’t do much business that year,” he said.