Published: August 25, 2008 10:38 pm         

Engineer promotes fireworks for firefighters

CHARLESTON — Retired chemical engineer Clifford Rotz touted legalization of “more energetic” fireworks Monday before a legislative panel as a means of leveraging more taxes and creating a pension fund for West Virginia’s struggling volunteer fire units.

“There has been a tendency in the country for fireworks laws to be less and less restrictive,” Rotz told Select Committee F on Volunteer Firefighters.

But Sam Love, a lobbyist for the West Virginia Fireman’s Association, voiced mixed feelings about the proposal initiated last winter by Senate Majority Whip Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming.

“I haven’t polled my association yet, but there’s sort of a conflict with fire safety that we preach,” Love told the committee.

In another presentation, Becky Neal, vice president of government relations for BrickStreet, countered some information about workers’ compensation policies in force by West Virginia’s first such private carrier when the old state-run system was ditched.

First off, Neal told the committee that premiums are based on minimum wage, but replacement salaries are computed at 66 2/3 of a volunteer firefighter’s actual earnings in a private sector job.

“So if a coal miner is hurt as a volunteer fireman, he’s paid at what his mining wages are?” inquired Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, a co-chairman of the panel.

“Yes,” Neal said. “That’s correct.”

Earlier, some volunteers complained that they are compensated at minimum wage when hurt battling fires and handling other emergency calls, and that this has been a detriment to retaining members.

Moreover, Neal identified 37 paid-department policies issued by BrickStreet, in sharp contrast to data given the panel earlier that indicated West Virginia has only 11 professional departments.

Combined, she said, the paid departments pay $2.1 million in premiums and the 400-plus volunteer units are charged a total of $650,000.

Volunteer units are fighting for survival, struggling with rising fuel costs and a general depletion of members at a time there are few incentives to retain them and too many diversions to keep them away.

“We desperately need funding,” Love said afterward. “We definitely need to retain firemen in this state. We’re looking for funding. We have to have volunteer fire departments. But we’re going to poll the members to see how they feel about it (legalizing fireworks).”

Rotz said the proposed law would legalize rockets, Roman candles, shells, firecrackers and multi-tube combinations of all such categories.

“In other words,” he said, “what’s to be legalized are the more energetic items, which fly, shoot or go bang.”

West Virginia would go a step beyond other states by being the first one to insist that anyone under 18 wear protective eye wear when shooting them and no one under that age could purchase the fireworks.

Twenty-one states allow just about all consumer fireworks, 18 permit “safe and sane” ones, six permit only sparklers and five others impose a total ban, he said.

As for safety concerns, Rotz used figures supplied by the American Pyrotechnics Association showing fireworks consumption has risen from 29 million pounds in 1976 to more than 278.2 million pounds two years ago. That’s an increase of about 960 percent in sales, but in the same time, injuries have fallen 91 percent.

Rotz figured some $12.6 million in fireworks would be sold annually in West Virginia, and the state could collect not only 6 percent in sales taxes but a special 10 percent levy to finance a pension fund for volunteers.

Brian Jones, president of the Professional Firefighters of West Virginia, pledged cooperation with volunteers on all issues involving both groups.

“There’s no reason for us to be at odds on these issues,” Jones told the panel. “We’d like to help out in any way we can.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com