FireOne CEO: Tolerance key to fireworks use

FireOne CEO Andre Abraham has said tolerance and respect are the key for bridging the gap between people who love fireworks and those who love their pets, after complaints about the effects of fireworks resumed on December 22 on social media.

He said, “We have to respect everyone’s views. As Prime Minister Eric Williams said: discipline, production and tolerance are key in our society, but the key word here is tolerance."

Asked about the effect on pets, especially as every year there are reports of pets running away and/or dying when fireworks are used, Abraham said the company sells pet-friendly fireworks.

“We don’t sell over-powered loud items that don’t meet international safety levels, and we do have silent items for sale. However, you can’t stop the consumer from buying what they want.

“If we do a 100 per cent silent fireworks show, no-one is going to stand up for 20 minutes to watch it, or drones, they would get bored. If all we had was silent fireworks, they would probably find a way to get the scratch bombs again. That’s what drives an illegal industry, is when you can’t get something, you find a way to get it.”

Abraham said he did not think people were only using fireworks during that two-hour period because of price and the economy.

“I think it’s more about maturity, becoming more respectful to our neighbours and treating our neighbours as we would want to be treated.”

Abraham said the company, which does not have permanent stores and operates via pop-ups, only markets fireworks for Divali and New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“We keep the celebrations specific to days and times. For us it’s not worth it to have a business selling fireworks throughout the year, because we want to co-exist with society, the elderly, the very young, the animal lovers and whoever else may not be so inclined.”

“We try to get people to use the products on specific days and times, even though we don’t have legislation for that. But by taking up a leadership role, we’ve managed to work with our customers.

"We’ve found as years go by, people save the celebration just for New Year’s Eve, maybe for two hours, and by 12.30 am, everything is done. I’m grateful for the customers who have bought into the concept.”

Abraham said he deliberately does not try to scale up his business, in contrast to most other businesses.

“We don’t want to be selling fireworks year-round as one person using it out of timing could have a negative impact on our reputation and the industry. We use pop-ups where we open ten days before New Year's Day, and we really only sell on New Year’s Eve and the day before, so having the tents is to get the staff acquainted with all the products, make sure all the systems are working, electricity, generators, point of sale, pricing, infrastructure, but it’s really just two days of business.”

He said the company’s sale on December 26 where it gives away one product of equal value for every product bought costs the company a lot but floods the market with international-quality products.

“The products are internationally tested by independent labs in the UK and the US and fall within the frameworks that govern firework use in the US. In the absence of laws in TT, as we run the fireworks industry on laws that are over 100 years old, we subscribe to the best-in-class laws in America and England. The only way we can protect that industry is to get safe fireworks into consumers’ hands.”

Abraham said the market used to be flooded with illegal scratch bombs, which were imported from Venezuela by boat without licenses and were very dangerous.

“They were overpowered with no wicks, so you didn’t know burn time. So when you scratch it, you could be holding a product in your hand and don’t know it’s lit and then it blows up. It’s very loud and it works against our reputation, because everything that goes bang, you think about Abraham, as our company is the brand leader.”

He said the scratch bombs had been eradicated in conjunction with the government, who had passed laws to deal with them, including heavy penalties, making it unattractive to deal with them.

“We’ve managed to control the narrative of the fireworks industry and have a safe industry because of this long-term thinking and doing things with consumers in mind, and not those who love fireworks. We don’t want the product to be used indiscriminately at unannounced dates and times and that’s why we push for that two-hour window around midnight being the main celebration.”

Abraham said having the fireworks being saved for midnight brings communities together, as people have barbeques and gatherings to see the fireworks.

“It allows them to be social and interactive with each other for those few hours. They gather and look toward the heavens and think of the future. Our motto is: 'let’s make positivity louder,' and I think we have the perfect product for it."