Teri Millis Presentation to City of Victoria
2023-01-12 Transcript

Fireworks

Good day to everyone, I am calling today to express my support for a ban on the sale and use of fireworks and firecrackers across British Columbia. I appreciate your time in hearing me today, and I hope that Victoria Council will help make this ban a reality by appealing to the Union of Municipalities and taking appropriate steps.

Many districts across BC have already introduced Bylaws restricting or prohibiting the sale and use of fireworks and firecrackers. However, it seems that every Halloween, Canada Day, New Years' Eve, among other holidays, there are dozens of reported unsanctioned fireworks events, which means that there are hundreds more unreported cases as well.

Human injures, child hospitalization, traumatization of those with PTSD and other sensitivities, startling of wildlife commonly resulting in separation from their young, injuries and death, disturbances of domesticated animals including highly sensitive farmed and companion animals, fires, pollution, our tax dollars being spent on investigation and healthcare and clean-up and firefighting. These are among the concerns I have with these displays, merely for a fleeting few minutes of entertainment. I KNOW that we can and must do better.
Apparently, there are no standards in North America regarding manufacturing, and many devices are manufactured overseas with little or no quality control. The World Health Organization has recommended a worldwide ban on manufacturing of fireworks.

8000 children are injured in North America each year and 20 people will die as a result of fireworks.
The Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program states that fireworks injuries are most frequently in males under the age of 19. The risk is highest for children ages 5-14. Most common injuries are burns, followed by head, eye and hand injuries. 65% of all fireworks injuries are to bystanders, and (3/4) of injuries require medical treatment in emergency departments. More than 80% of emergency room fireworks injuries involve fireworks that consumers are permitted to use.

The chemicals used to manufacture some pyrotechnics can burn at several thousand degrees, making it impossible to douse the fireworks with water; they have to burn themselves out. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has been calling for us to eliminate consumer fireworks for years. Fireworks and firecrackers have a higher risk of fire death than any other consumer product.

In many cities, anyone can walk in to the local stores and purchase a wide array of fireworks products, even though there are restrictions. At some point, our tax dollars should be considered more important than the profits of these few companies who sell fireworks to consumers.

On July 1, 2021, a nine-year-old girl in Kelowna was struck in the face and arm by a discharged firework at an unsanctioned gathering, suffered serious injuries and was transported to hospital.

In November, 2022, a youth was walking in Surrey when a car drove slowly past them and an occupant shot a firework, striking her in the forehead. In the same month, in Delta, a girl suffered significant injury after being shot with a firework. The flames burned her upper arm and shoulder as her jacket caught fire. 
Oct. 31 2021, an 80-year-old ran outside in the night to try to fight a blaze in the cedar trees in his backyard in Burnaby. It took fire crews half an hour to extinguish the blaze and keep it away from his home. A firework had been thrown over the fence. The VPD stated, "unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of being able to follow up on the dozens if not hundreds of fireworks complaints."

Lastly I would like to read an excerpt from a CBC article from October 30, 2007:
"Despite widespread bans on the sale of fireworks, two thirds of all fireworks injuries to children in Canada happen in BC, according to the BC Children's Hospital. Staff at the hospital say that they treat five to ten children with fireworks injuries every year at their facility alone. So as Halloween approaches, they and staff at the other Lower Mainland emergency rooms are preparing to deal with the expected rash of incidents. Hospital staff said those injuries include burns, blindness, amputations and even death, but every year sales continue."

The time to end these unnecessary risks is now. Thank you.