To the editor:

On Tuesday, Topsham voters will have a chance to vote on a referendum ballot question that asks whether they want to approve or disapprove of the sale and use of fireworks in Topsham.

There are two questions: One would allow that sale of fireworks; and one would allow the use of fireworks. I urge voters to vote “no” on both questions (Options 1c and 2c) for the following reasons.

Fireworks are unsafe from both a personal and public safety level. Individuals who use fireworks are often unfamiliar with the proper safety precautions.

Fireworks tend to find their way into the hand of minors (including elementary school students). Doctors or educators have witnessed the damage to body parts and public property that fireworks can cause.

From a public safety standpoint, fireworks are one of the leading causes of grass fires, which according to the local fire chiefs are the most expensive fires to control.

In fact, there was a multialarm grass fire in Harpswell this spring whose cause was attributed to fireworks. Any revenue derived from taxes paid by a supplier of fireworks is quickly outweighed by one grass fire.

From a business perspective, professional-type businesses such as medical facilities and office buildings that might be attracted to parcels in the Interstate 295 west sector would view the presence of a fireworks store in the Topsham Fair Mall as a detriment to locating their businesses there because qualified employees would be reluctant to move their families to a community that allows the sale and use of fireworks.

A fireworks store would supply a handful of part-time, low wage jobs with no benefits. Although some people might say any job is a good job, there are already many of these types of jobs available that go unfilled because you can’t make a living on them. A restaurant that was originally intended for the parcel in question would provide many more jobs, many of which would provide livable wages.

Finally, there is a quality of life issue. Fireworks are, at best, a nuisance to everyone except those that use them. Maine spends millions of dollars attracting tourists who are seeking a pristine experience. Fireworks do not contribute to that appeal.

Let’s join our neighbors in Brunswick, Bath, and Freeport and ban the sale and use of fireworks in Topsham.

Bill Fitzsimmons
Topsham