HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY -
You can't have the Fourth of July without fireworks, but Pennsylvania residents are barred from a new store in York County that specializes in the biggest and best bang around.
Fireworks fanatics can get their fix at Phantom Fireworks in Hopewell Township. You have to bring your ID to get in the door, and that ID has to be from somewhere other than the Keystone State.
People like Kevin O'Connor come from northern Maryland to pick up explosive mortars for one last Independence Day Weekend blast.
"Mortars are pretty much the coolest thing I've seen," O'Connor says.
That cool display is illegal in Pennsylvania. O'Connor and everyone else who shops at Phantom has to sign paperwork agreeing to take their fireworks out of the Commonwealth within 48 hours of their purchase.
Phantom Fireworks Manager Bill Hunt says his store caters to clients from the southern side of the Mason-Dixon Line.
"We are set up to be a store that sells to out-of-state residents," Hunt says. "We pull from the Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Virginia areas."
Hunt's is the seventh Phantom Fireworks store to open near one of Pennsylvania's borders. The store just off the Shrewsbury exit of Interstate 83 opened its doors at the end of May, and the staff is passionate about keeping customers safe around some very dangerous merchandise.
The first thing you see when you walk into the store is a display on fireworks safety.
After all, Phantom wants to have repeat customers.
"There are people that are very passionate about fireworks," Hunt says. "They love displays, they love having the family together. It's entertainment."
Fireworks fanatics can get their fix at Phantom Fireworks in Hopewell Township. You have to bring your ID to get in the door, and that ID has to be from somewhere other than the Keystone State.
People like Kevin O'Connor come from northern Maryland to pick up explosive mortars for one last Independence Day Weekend blast.
"Mortars are pretty much the coolest thing I've seen," O'Connor says.
That cool display is illegal in Pennsylvania. O'Connor and everyone else who shops at Phantom has to sign paperwork agreeing to take their fireworks out of the Commonwealth within 48 hours of their purchase.
Phantom Fireworks Manager Bill Hunt says his store caters to clients from the southern side of the Mason-Dixon Line.
"We are set up to be a store that sells to out-of-state residents," Hunt says. "We pull from the Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Virginia areas."
Hunt's is the seventh Phantom Fireworks store to open near one of Pennsylvania's borders. The store just off the Shrewsbury exit of Interstate 83 opened its doors at the end of May, and the staff is passionate about keeping customers safe around some very dangerous merchandise.
The first thing you see when you walk into the store is a display on fireworks safety.
After all, Phantom wants to have repeat customers.
"There are people that are very passionate about fireworks," Hunt says. "They love displays, they love having the family together. It's entertainment."
