Stash Of Illegal Fireworks An Accident Waiting To Happen

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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- Lauderhill firefighters spent the day loading and carting more than a ton of illegal fireworks to an undisclosed location to be destroyed.

The stash was discovered Thursday, June 30th, in a warehouse bay located at 3759 N.W. 16th street.

The city issued a notice to appear in court to Bruce McFadden, the man they say was storing the fireworks and passing out flyers advertising them for sale.

"He was detained, he was not arrested," said Lauderhill Fire Rescue assistant Chief Jeff Levy. "He was detained by the police department for questioning. "He eventually received a notice to appear in court for what his final charges might be."

Firefighters say they averted a possible catastrophe because the fireworks were housed next to cars and barrels of gasoline, oil and even racing fuel.

"Any spark could potentially have ignited the product back there," said Chief Levy. "The fireworks themselves are stable but the problem is that in this warehouse, it's a car auto repair place, so there's vehicles in there, there's gasoline, there's oil, there's other chemicals in there, so that provides an unstable environment for the fireworks."

Business owners in the area were left scratching their heads about the decision to keep the explosive products in such close proximity.

"They're actually very, very dumb," said Tom Sullivan, who runs a business next door. "I don't know what to say or what goes through peoples' heads when they do things like that. It doesn't make me happy as a business owner."

Earlier, the city's code enforcement department got a tip that the fireworks were being sold out of the unit. When the fire department checked it out, they found between 2,500 to 3,000 pounds of fireworks packed inside.

"Everything that was in there was illegal," said Chief Levy. "From mortars that go up in the air to firecrackers, bottle rockets and Roman candles. You name it and it is in that warehouse."

Levy said the fireworks would be removed Friday but wasn't sure if a company specializing in explosive material removals would do it or if the fire department would.

"The city must wait for a court order before they can dispose of the illegal fireworks, which will be burned," Chief Levy said.