Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Firefighters nervous about Guy Fawkes Night

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
2 Nov, 2015 05:58 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

BIG BANG: Wairua Clarke (left) and Maia Ratima are running one of several pop-up fireworks stores in Tauranga.PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

BIG BANG: Wairua Clarke (left) and Maia Ratima are running one of several pop-up fireworks stores in Tauranga.PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Fireworks sales began yesterday in the lead-up to Guy Fawkes - with several pop-up outlets setting up shop and animal advocates and fire authorities warning people to take extra care in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Fireworks can only be sold between November 2 and November 5. People must be 18 years old and have valid ID to buy fireworks, just like alcohol.

Tauranga's Fire Risk Management Officer Bill Rackham said the sale of fireworks made firefighters nervous as not everyone was responsible with them.

Mr Rackham said it was critical that people under the age of 18 did not play with or light fireworks without proper supervision.

"It comes to parents adequately supervising the young ones. That can be hard to enforce or to press on parents but it's important," Mr Rackham said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"What we typically find is kids going off to play with fireworks, doing things they probably shouldn't be doing.

"Fireworks are made for a certain purpose and can be used safely. But the moment they fall into the wrong hands or people doing the wrong things with them, they can become quite a significant danger "

SPCA New Zealand CEO Ric Odom said the short sale period for private use fireworks did not stop people lighting fireworks for months after Guy Fawkes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"People with pets have to be alert to the danger far beyond the 5th of November. There is only one solution in the SPCA's eyes and that is to ban firework sales to individuals and allow people to enjoy controlled public displays only."

Since the restricted sales period was introduced in 2007, fireworks-related callouts for firefighters dropped nationally from 653 fires in 2006 to 268 last year.

Online Fireworks operations manager Wayde Parnell ran 23 pop-up stores across Bay of Plenty and Waikato - up from just one on Hewletts Rd in 2012.

The stores opened for business yesterday and while sales were steady, they usually increased on November 4 and 5 as people did not want to miss out, Mr Parnell said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

'A sad loss': Why this prostate cancer treatment is 'disappearing' in NZ

10 Jul 06:00 PM
live
Bay of Plenty Times

Fresh flood threat as heavy rain, thunderstorms, gales lash north; south braces for new deluge

10 Jul 05:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
'A sad loss': Why this prostate cancer treatment is 'disappearing' in NZ

'A sad loss': Why this prostate cancer treatment is 'disappearing' in NZ

10 Jul 06:00 PM

'It’s not the treatment that’s the problem,' a urologist says.

Fresh flood threat as heavy rain, thunderstorms, gales lash north; south braces for new deluge
live

Fresh flood threat as heavy rain, thunderstorms, gales lash north; south braces for new deluge

10 Jul 05:00 PM
'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM
Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP