Fireworks sales strong despite Charles City ban on use

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Snakes, sparklers, spinners and torches — that was about it.

How the times have changed in the Hawkeye state.

It’s been a little over two years since Iowa passed a law allowing the sale and use of most types of consumer fireworks in the state.

That means plenty of pyrotechnic purchasers have been shelling out hard-earned cash for explosives like firecrackers, Roman candles, bottle rockets, aerials and an odd assortment of other items that go boom and can create a patriotic display of color in the nighttime sky.

“We had somebody come in yesterday and buy $2,000 worth of fireworks,” said Kinsley Mankhey.

Mankhey was running the register Tuesday at the fireworks tent sent up in the Fareway parking just off South Grand on the north side of Charles City.

That tent, one of two located in the area, is called Bellino Fireworks and is owned by Danielle Miller of Mason City.

Mankhey said sales are good and have been about $1,200-$1,500 a day since the tent was opened on June 22.

“As we’re getting close to the Fourth, it’s getting more up into the $2,000 to $3,000 range,” said Mankhey, who lives in Mason City and attends Waldorf University in Forest City.

Nashua resident Jamey Welter remembers the days when you had to get creative as a kid because almost all fireworks were banned in Iowa.

“I grew up with the snakes. I grew up with the sparklers. The coolest thing you could do was light a sparkler and throw it in the air and hope it got stuck in a tree so you had something to look at for a little bit,” he said.

Fireworks are legal to fire off within the Nashua city limits, according to Nashua City Clerk John Ott.

“You can set off fireworks in the city limits, but if it’s going to be for like a group of people, then you need to get a permit and then you need to purchase insurance,” said Ott.

WELTER, 38, IS MARRIED and has boy who he says enjoys seeing the fireworks set off.

Welter spent just over $100 on fireworks Wednesday and he said he will light them off over the course of the week.

“I’ve only got a 3-year-old boy I have to impress,” he said.

Mankhey said this is the first year Bellino Fireworks has had a tent set up in Charles City under the ownership of Miller. The last day the tent will sell fireworks out of the parking will be Friday, when all items will be 50 percent off.

Under state law, the sale of fireworks is legal in Charles City within certain dates, but the City Council has prohibited consumer fireworks from being set off anywhere in the city limits.

Charles City Clerk Trudy O’Donnell said no permits are required by the city to set up tents.

“All the city can do at this point right now is to dictate where they can sell them,” O’Donnell said.

Anyone who wants to sell fireworks within a highway service business district or general manufacturing district must provide Charles City’s fire chief with proof of a current license issued by the state fire marshal.

FIREWORKS ENTHUSIASTS can fire off their pyrotechnics from June 1 until July 8 from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. — if their city or county allows it.

An extra hour is added, until 11 p.m., on the weekend before and the weekend after July 4 and on July 4 itself, and on the weekend before and the weekend after New Year’s Day.

On New Year’s Eve, fireworks can be used from 9 a.m. Dec. 31 until 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1.

Sales are allowed in permanent structures between June 1 and July 8 and between Dec. 10 and Jan. 3. Sales in temporary structures like tents are allowed from June 13 to July 8 each year,

For Welter, he might just be living out his childhood firework fantasies.

“For guys our age, you’re always fascinated with what you can’t have,” said Welter. “Guys our age, we didn’t get to do this. Now, heck, we’re a kid all over again. I’d like to say I’m buying them for my 3-year old.”

Mankhey, who originally hails from Hastings, Nebraska — where fireworks are legal to purchase and use — remembers visiting her grandparents in the summer at Lake Mills and not being able to purchase fireworks.

“It’s crazy, coming from Nebraska to here. In Nebraska there’s literally tents everywhere,” said Mankhey. “You can drive through one town and there’ll be at least seven tents.”

The shooting off of fireworks has been a contentious issue in many areas throughout Iowa. War veterans who have post traumatic stress disorder can be especially sensitive to the noise created by the explosions.

“As far as a veteran, being in a small town, even Charles City, everybody knows everybody,” Welter said. “You need to go talk to people. You need to find out or run it past them. If it’s going to bother them, it ain’t worth it to do it. Go somewhere else. Go out in the country.”

Animals can also be frightened by the loud sounds.

“We have a dog. He doesn’t like it either. We put him in his little room where he goes to and he’s fine. As soon as we come in the house, he’ll come out,” Welter added.

IOWA HAS A SORDID PAST with fireworks. Explosions and deaths as a result of fireworks have grabbed the headlines in the past century.

Iowa became the first state to ban fireworks, in 1938, before then-Gov. Terry Branstad signed legislation rescinding that ban two years ago.

In 1931, the northwest Iowa town of Spencer saw its downtown set ablaze and much of its business district burned to the ground after what authorities believed to be a lit sparkler was dropped near a drugstore fireworks display.

Thirty-seven people were injured in 2008 when Charles City’s main fireworks display malfunctioned during the Independence Day celebration.

The investigation report stated a shell malfunction sent fireworks into the crowd. One or more shells detonated in their launch tubes, setting off secondary explosions. The official cause remains undetermined.