Oddly enough, you can buy fireworks in Idaho, but detonating aerial types in the state is illegal. The Table Rock Fire started unintentionally with illegal fireworks on June 30th of last year; the total cost of battling the flames ended up around $341,000.
Immediately following the fire, Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan called the fireworks policy “absolutely ludicrous.”
Now, Doan is asking lawmakers to prohibit the sale of fireworks in Idaho.
He recently described the current policy as a little crazy. Doan tells the Statesman that as long as somebody buying fireworks in Idaho signs an affidavit promising they won’t set them off in the state, they can have them here. He likens it to the fact Idaho is surrounded by states where marijuana is legal – should the Gem State also sell pot but make people promise they won’t smoke it in the state?
House Minority Leader, Democrat Mat Erpelding, says draft legislation that would close the loophole is being finalized and should get a hearing next week.
For more local news, follow the KBSX newsroom on Twitter @KBSX915
Copyright 2017 Boise State Public Radio