Hey Boss I got an idea

Well here we are in the middle of a very dry spell where the powers to be have stated that we can no longer water our yards more than once aweek due to the lack of water resourses. OK thats cool, I have no problem with that cause I was'nt watering my lawn anyway. I refuse to pay all that money to keep the grass green. Besides, it saves me the hassle and gas money not having to mow it.

There is however one thing I am getting tired of doing and that is responding to all these brush fires to assist county fire. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working with the fire guys but If I wanted to go to all these fires I would have went to the fire academy and been a firefighter as opposed to a cop.

I live in a wood house out in the woods. It used to be real quiet out here and I knew all my neighbors but that has changed. Due to our County Commissioners approving every building permit that comes their way my nice lil piece of paradise is being entroached upon by all these cookie cutter communities and the noise and people that they bring.

Which brings me to my point. The 4th of July is quickly approaching and with that comes the fire works. I don't know about the rest of you but I have come to hate the couple of weeks around the 4th of July as well as New Years. Last year the neighborhood around my house sounded like a war zone. And I don't have to tell you all how many noise complaints we all responded to because of fireworks. And that does'nt include just the alerts that were put out about noise in an area.

But forget the noise for a second and remember the current dry spell. Like I said, I live in the woods in a wooden house. The thought of one of my "new neighbors" kids out exploring the woods this summer vacation and playing with the fireworks that their parents bought for them scares the hell out of me. Yeah I have home owners insurance but I prefer to not have to claim on it. We all know it does'nt take but a second for a major brush fire to get started under these conditions.

So boss heres my idea. Please go to the County Commissioners and ask them to ban the sell and use of fire works for the up coming 4th of July celebrations. I'm not talking about the public / professional displays that are put on by the local governments. I'm talking about lil Johnnie with a sparkler and a fire cracker out in the woods with no supervision. Or his adult parents that have had one too many and accidently set the yard on fire.

Us deputies would be very much appreciative as well. Banning fireworks would reduce our calls for service as well as the threat of fires. Also us deputies could help with this by emailing our county commissioners and asking them to consider it. Heck just tell Commissioner Storms that Comissioner Caster is against it and I'm sure she will vote for it. :lol:

nice post. i agree.

Great idea! This is an idea whose time has come.

In view of the dry brush conditions, fireworks use has become a public safety issue.

Now if only we had a county commission with some guts.

Of course if we had a county commission with some guts the impact fees for new construction would increase dramatically, most new construction would be prohibited, homeowner's associations would be forbidden to require residents to have sod lawns and we would get some kind of coherent growth plan for the community.

None of the above will happen, however. :roll:

The last time the firework issue popped up you equated it with Mom, Apple Pie, and baseball. The old give them and inch they will take a mile applies. The noise goes on for weeks. Why don't you state the obvious. People are making to much money on the fireworks and obviously you don't want to step on their toes, or maybe they are contributing to much.

We could probably live with one night at a time, New Years, July 4th. But get real Rhonda night after night of the fireworks is getting ridiculus.

Let's face it, the only ting the BOCC care about is making money for the county coffers which goes where??? Thank God there is a restructuring on the future!!

I wrote the original post in regards to this issue. After reading the replies above I am in agreement that the dry conditions and the private use of fireworks should be considered a public safety issue. In the replies there is talk about how much money is made on the sale of fireworks. I'm sure it is alot. But think about this. How much taxpayer money does it take to cover the cost of a good size brush fire?

For example, take the recent brush fire in the Riverview and Gibsonton area that caused I75 to be closed down for most of the day. The fire burned up alot of land and forced the evacuation of a decent size subdivision. The response from local fire and law enforcement agencies was quite large. From the county there was obviously the fire department as well as sheriffs deputies. Many other county agencies were effected as well. The county school system comes to mind as another large agency that was severely effected due this fire taking place at the end of the school day.

From the state there was the Dept. of Agriculture / Forestry fire fighters and investigators. The FHP, DOT, and FWC law enforcement officers also played a major role in the operation to control the roadways as well as the fire. The point I'm trying to make is that there was alot of man power on scene.

Now in order to get all this man power into the proper position it takes alot of vehicles of all makes and sizes. Vehicles burn fuel which we all know is very costly these days. All that man power cost money in the wages that they make to be on scene. Then there's the equipment and supplies that are expended to perform all the law enforcement and fire fighting duties that were enacted that day. I also observed the Red Cross on scene handing out "free food and drinks" to the fire fighters and law enforcement officers on scene. I said free but the food and drinks they gave out do indeed cost money and drain their supplies they have built up through contributions. Somebody paid for it.

I have no idea how much taxpayer money was spent that day by the county and state but I'm sure it was ALOT. Was it more than the county takes in by allowing the sale and use of private fireworks? Again, I have no idea but it is something to think about. Maybe the media could investigate it and let us know. What do you say Daniel Ruth. How many of these types of incidents would need to occur before the county lost money by allowing the sale and use of fireworks.

Something else to think about is that with all those emergency response personnel on scene of a large fire what happened to the service and response times in regards to other incidents? There's only so many fire fighters and law enforcement officers out there.

And just in case you are wondering, yes. I did contact the county commissioners and ask them to consider my request as I hope you all have done as well.

I'm all for smoky landing dumps, isn't everyone?