Tampa, FL -- Buyer beware. With all the wet weather we've been getting in the Bay area, firework fanatics planning to celebrate this 4th of July with a bang, may be disappointed. Especially if their pyrotechnic purchase leaves them soaked.
Folks like Mike Lawless say they spend about $500 or $600 a year on Fourth of July fireworks. That would be a lot of money to risk on dampened duds.
"Oh, I've been doing this since I was like eight years old," said Lawless, "You know, I spend a lot of money, so I want everything to work right."
So Lawless says this year he's shopping at Phantom Fireworks, a brick-and-mortar store open year-round.
Presumably, says Lawless, they're less susceptible to storms than the roadside retailers.
"It's raining every day," said Lawless, "So you don't know. I went into one tent the other day and they had plastic over everything."
Phantom Fireworks is doing all it can to label itself as a less risky choice this year. Even posting signs to that effect all over its buildings, warning customers about the perils of wet weather.
"Any humidity or moisture is going to be absorbed right into the pyrotechnic composition of the fireworks," said Rocky DiRoma, general manager of Phantom Fireworks in Tampa.
A week ago, a fireworks stand along Martin Luther King Boulevard near Dover was blown down by strong winds. An estimate $60,000 worth of firework was soaked by strong rain.
Do the folks who run the stand could tell their customers they can be confident those fireworks were disposed of and not just dried off?
"Can you give them that assurance? I can't say anything for them," said the man working the stand, referring us to Galaxy Fireworks management.
While those workers declined to comment, another Galaxy roadside vendor told us fireworks that do get wet are removed from the shelves.
"They take it back to the warehouse and what happens to it after that I'm not really sure," said Michelle Nelson.
Galaxy says any customers with concerns can also shop at their brick and mortar store in Tampa, but the company's president, Sharon Johnson tells 10 News that everything from the Dover fireworks stand was "100% removed" and that the fireworks that exist at the stand now are "dry and they are safe."
Johnson says that fireworks that become wet are considered "hazardous waste" and cannot be dried out or resold.
"If we have product that was even next to a product that got wet we dispose of it," said Johnson.
Customers, many returning to the same stands year after year, say they trust the vendors to not sell them duds.
"I mean this is their livelihood," said customer Bill Hildebrand, "I think they would certainly do everything they could to protect it."
Phantom Fireworks also reminds customers there's a safety factor to consider.
Fireworks that may have been exposed to humidity can perform less predictably, they say, increasing the danger for people who might approach those fireworks thinking they were a dud.
Never touch a firework that has failed to go off, say officials. It's one of many July 4th firework safety tips, which you can see by clicking here.
