Sparkler legislation draws fire

A three-month-old law allowing the sale of sparklers is creating fireworks in Saratoga County, where elected officials may become the first in the state to allow them.

The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors accepted public comment Wednesday on a local law that would permit licensed establishments to sell sparklers and other fireworks to people 18 and older between June 1 and July 5 and Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 each year. The county board will vote on the measure on Feb. 24.

State firefighters, though, are pouring water on the idea. At Wednesday’s hearing in the Saratoga County office complex, representatives for the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs and Firemen’s Association of the State of New York urged county supervisors to reject the law, saying even sparklers — a hand-held, sticklike firework that emits colors — presented a danger.