Fireworks sales are booming before the Fourth

“Pardon the pun,” Marty Medovic warns. “Sales are booming.”
Medovic is general manager of the Fireworks Supermarket, located just over the western Washington County border in Triadelphia, W.Va. Even as other businesses falter or tread water as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, fireworks sales have headed skyward, certainly in part because of COVID-19.
Many municipalities in this region and in other parts of the country have called off Fourth of July fireworks displays this year in order to prevent large crowds from gathering and potentially spreading COVID-19. But, for many Americans, the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in air are indispensable parts of the Fourth of July, so they have decided to take matters into their own hands and go purchase commercial fireworks they can set off Saturday.
“It’s been crazy,” Medovic said.
Customers have not only flocked in from around West Virginia’s western panhandle, but also from Ohio and Pennsylvania, he said. Two people from Syracuse, N.Y., came to the store, he added. Like Pennsylvania, West Virginia has recently loosened its regulations surrounding commercial fireworks to allow different types of them to be sold.
“They tax the hell out of it, but it goes to good causes,” Medovic said.
Sales are up 100% over this time last year, he added, with a typical customer at his store shelling out $300 or more.
“We’re definitely seeing an increase in sales this year,” according to Mike Podolsky, associate general counsel for Phantom Fireworks, the chain based in Youngstown, Ohio.
Many of those sales have been to first-time customers, he said.
Another factor in the boost in fireworks sales this year is the fact July 4 falls on a Saturday, said Darrin Iams, who co-owns DNT Fireworks.
Iams and his wife, Tammi, have owned DNT Fireworks since 2012, and, in his estimation, “This is best year we’ve ever had since it’s on a Saturday.”
Many fireworks stores were sidelined during lockdowns, but they have made up for lost time – and sales – since restrictions have been loosened in most states. And some people started shooting off fireworks well before the Fourth of July.
Julie Heckman, executive director of American Pyrotechnics Association, told USA Today, “{span}People are using fireworks every night across the country right now and I believe that’s totally related to the pandemic. People are bored and have been in lockdown mode for over three months … and they’re looking for some affordable entertainment at home.”
Of course, fireworks going off into the night in the days leading up to the Fourth has not been welcomed by everyone. Setting off commercial fireworks have caused injury and death both in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Canonsburg police have been fielding many complaints about illegal fireworks being launched within the borough in the last two weeks, according to Chief Alex Coghill. Officers charged a local man with firing a Roman candle into an occupied car that was driving through the intersection of Hutchinson Avenue and West College Street Sunday night.
Aidan Vopal, 21, allegedly fired a “10 Shot Flaming Balls” firework into a car occupied by two adults and their three children, two teenagers and a 3-year-old, according to the criminal complaint. The incident was recorded on video, which police viewed. Vopal was charged with five counts each of propulsion of a missile and recklessly endangering another person.
Washington City council also received complaints this week during council meetings about fireworks being set off at the 7th Ward playground and in the West End over the past two weeks. Multiple residents told council the fireworks are happening each night and through the early morning hours.
Washington Mayor Scott Putnam said there are not many places where it’s legal to set off fireworks within the city, since the city’s ordinance maintains that a person has to be 150 feet from a structure.
“We’re going to bring on extra patrol officers for the next couple days who will be solely focused on fireworks,” Putnam said.
City police Chief Robert Wilson said that his department has been receiving similar complaints across the city for weeks. Wilson said it’s not unusual for this time of year, but that it may have increased because of municipal shows being canceled across the county.
“The best thing to do, call 911,” Wilson said Monday. “We’ll get an officer out there.”
Staff writer Katie Anderson contributed to this story.