Olympia, WA—The State Fire Marshal’s Office seized an illegal shipment of fireworks at a local moving and storage facility in Des Moines, Washington. An employee at the moving and storage facility notified the South King Fire and Rescue Fire Marshal that a container at the facility likely contained fireworks.

Federal, state and local agencies were notified and convened at the storage facility on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 to investigate. Their search resulted in 131 boxes of consumer fireworks—including artillery shells, cakes, fountains, and aerials—with an estimated wholesale value of over $9,000.

The containers were being shipped from Olympia to Honolulu, where these types of consumer fireworks are illegal and require a fireworks import license. All shipments of hazardous materials, including fireworks, requires a bill of lading and proper placarding to be placed on the shipping container—this shipment had neither.

“At this time the investigation is still ongoing and charges in connection with this investigation are still pending,” said State Fire Marshal Charles Duffy.

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The State Fire Marshal’s Office is a Bureau of the Washington State Patrol, providing fire and life safety services to the citizens of Washington State including inspections of state licensed facilities, plan review of school construction projects, licensing of fire sprinkler contractors and pyrotechnic operators, training Washington States firefighters, and collecting emergency response data.