VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Vancouver’s fire department is doing all it can to patrol the sale of fireworks leading up to Halloween.

But the Internet is like the Wild Wild West for firecrackers and other illegal explosives.

A visit to Craigslist.ca brings you to the underground world of M80s, screecheroos, bottle rockets, and mitey mites. They’re great big no-nos that could land you with fines and other problems this Halloween.

News1130 found firecrackers in Richmond and North Vancouver; all you need to do is call or text a number and someone may even deliver them to you.


Gabe Roder with Vancouver Fire and Rescue says it’s tough to patrol and enforce. “These irresponsible individuals are using Halloween week… to blast these things off and they are very loud and dangerous.”

He notes every year, people are badly hurt by these explosives; he’s also seen some very close calls.

“This little girl was in the wrong place at the wrong time. [It's] fortunate that she just suffered very minor burns from this interaction she had,” he describes, holding an eight-year-old girl’s sweater with a front-to-back burn.

As for retail outlets in the city, Roder says they are all using proper permits to flog fireworks — the legal kind — which can only be set off tomorrow.