Lawrence’s new ban on fireworks isn’t about to snuff out Tim Bonebrake’s booming business at the edge of Eudora.

For more than two decades, his Big B’s Fireworks tent has welcomed more buyers who spend even more money on firecrackers, fountains and flaming helicopters than they did the previous year — no matter how low the economy sinks, how much rain falls or how many communities ban fireworks.

Bonebrake actually boosted his incendiary stockpile this year, so convinced is he that Lawrence’s ban won’t be able to douse the public’s penchant for Fourth of July fireworks.

“People are determined enough that they’ll do it, and they’ll do it no matter what,” Bonebrake said. “It’ll be hard to watch the whole city at one time. Johnson County’s banned fireworks, and I still get plenty of people from De Soto and Olathe and all over the place that come in and buy from me.

“If you drive around Olathe on the Fourth of July, you’ll see as many fireworks as you see anywhere else.”

Such sentiments are fanning the flames of worry for officials in Lawrence and Douglas County.

Lawrence outlaws the possession and use of fireworks in the city, under an ordinance adopted late last year. The county continues to permit the sale and use of fireworks during specified hours July 2-4.

That means that as many as two dozen tents again could be lining up on the outskirts of town, peddling sparklers, artillery-style shells and Saturn Missile Batteries to fireworks-loving buyers who won’t be breaking the law — at least not until they turn their cars back into the city.

Gary Bartz, of Bartz Brothers Fireworks, unloads this year's supply. Bartz worked Thursday morning to prepare for the fireworks-selling season, July 2-4 in Douglas County. Lawrence city and county officials are anxious to learn how area residents this year will handle the new Lawrence city ban on fireworks.

‘Worst case scenario’

Craig Weinaug, county administrator, calls it the “worst case scenario”: hundreds of Lawrence residents feeding their annual Independence Day frenzy by tooling into rural areas where fire-protection services are minimal.

“I hope and pray very strongly that we don’t have very dry conditions at that time, or I’m concerned that we’ll have some serious grass fires in the rural area,” Weinaug said.

Law-enforcement officials are taking a cautious approach to planning for the inevitable rush of calls come July 2, 3 and 4.

Sgt. Mike Pattrick, a spokesman for the Lawrence Police Department, said a “full complement” of officers would be on duty to grapple with complaints about the use of illegal fireworks.

A first offense is punishable by a fine of up to $200, while each subsequent violation could trigger a similar fine plus up to six months in jail.

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Or officers simply could issue a warning, confiscate the contraband and send people on their way.

Warning: Compliance sought

“What we’re trying to achieve is compliance,” Pattrick said. “We’ll be doing the best we can to enforce the new ordinance.”

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical also can grant staff members the ability to write tickets for fireworks violations, but no specific decisions have been made about whether to exercise that power this year, said Division Chief Rich Barr, Lawrence fire marshal.

Sheriff Rick Trapp acknowledges being concerned about the city’s ban, because of the likelihood of city residents fanning out onto farms, rural roads and public parks to partake in fireworks.

This flier will be distributed to Lawrence residents in their utility bills.

He reminds people that shooting fireworks on someone’s private property without permission is trespassing, and that’s illegal. Lighting fireworks on public roads also is illegal.

But going to Lone Star Lake or Wells Overlook Park to use fireworks is OK in the eyes of the law, he said, and that’s what worries him and other county officials. The two county parks could end up serving as relief valves for Lawrence residents handcuffed by the city’s ban.

County commissioners soon could be asked to step in and ban fireworks in county parks.

“We’re looking into it,” Trapp said.

Shipments rolling in

The county limits the use of fireworks to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 2 and 3, and 7 a.m. to midnight July 4. A violation in the county is punishable by a possible $500 fine and up to 30 days in jail.

Next week, county officials will begin making available permits to fireworks vendors for sales outside of Lawrence. The county issued 21 of the $100 permits a year ago.

Gary Bartz, co-chairman of the Douglas County Fireworks Assn., said he was anxious to get started. His Bartz Brothers Fireworks received a shipment of products Thursday morning, and he knows of several vendors who are planning to sell next month.

“There are a lot of people in the county that buy fireworks,” he said.

Susan Garrett, co-owner of K-10 Fireworks, expects her sales from Lawrence residents to tail off a bit — but not much. She figures that many people either won’t be familiar with the city’s ban or they’ll simply choose to ignore it, no matter how many warning signs, information pamphlets and public-service announcements are distributed.

She’s been selling fireworks from a stand a mile east of Lawrence for 12 years now, and she knows her market.

“The only question I get repeatedly is, ‘Do you sell bottle rockets?'” Garrett said. “Those have been gone for at least 15 years, because they’ve been outlawed by state law. So I can’t expect people to know they can’t shoot fireworks in Lawrence.”

But Joe Ruff, who has sold fireworks “off and on” for 25 years along U.S. Highway 40, won’t continue this year. He mistakenly thought the ban extended from Lawrence to all sales in Douglas County, and he reluctantly decided to fold up his TNT Fireworks circus tent.

Last year he paid $986 in sales taxes from fireworks sales, something he figures the state and county could use in the throes of their respective budget crunches.

“And I’m one of the smaller stands,” Ruff said. “I think this whole thing’s unconstitutional. It goes against the whole Declaration of Independence.”