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GREENSBORO — The whirring electric fan helps, but it's still plenty hot under the big red-and-white striped tent on High Point Road.

Should more powerful fireworks be allowed? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

Hot as a firecracker?

Nope. Those aren't allowed in North Carolina.

Across the country, consumer fireworks have gotten bigger, louder and more powerful as the legal limits on the pyrotechnic materials they contain have been relaxed.

But that's not true here. When it comes to fireworks, North Carolina has stuck to its legal limit of 200 grams of kaboom-stuff per device.

That's OK with Donna Daniel and the other volunteers at the roadside TNT Fireworks tent on the otherwise vacant lot near the new Grand Four Seasons Station 18 movie theater.

They've sold fireworks from that spot for the past five years as a church fundraiser for the Bible Revival Ministry Center in Kernersville.

"We do two big sales every year: fireworks and Christmas trees," said Daniel, a cheerful redhead who is well aware of the state fireworks laws.

"If it projects or if it moves, you can't have it here," Daniel said. "These aren't those South Carolina fireworks. ... Some of those might as well be bombs."

And there lies the contradiction. Go south of the border, and the business of big booms is a big booming business.

"The fireworks you see at the ballpark? You can get those in South Carolina," Daniel said.

If you're tempted to head south to get more bang for your bucks, you might want to think twice, said Kristin Milam of the N.C. Fire Marshal's office.

"Being so close certainly increases the attraction to wanting to set them off," Milam said. "You can buy them over there and set them off over there, but don't bring them back across the state line. That's illegal."

The use of backyard fireworks has more than doubled since 2000, said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. Last year, Americans used 280 million pounds of display and backyard fireworks — nearly 10 times the amount used in 1976.

Why the growth? Part of the reason is the fireworks are better.

"We've got quite a few new products, and they're brighter and more colorful than they used to be," Daniel said. "A lot of the old fireworks were all white (sparks). Now, if you buy something like a Little Tequila Sunrise, the colors are orange and green and hot pink.

"It's a better mix of colors, and they last a lot longer. They're works of art, really."

Pretty or not, they still involve fire, and groups such as the National Fire Protection Association want a total ban on consumer fireworks.

More fires typically are reported on Independence Day than on any other day of the year, NFPA spokeswoman Lorraine Carlie said.

"We feel fireworks are too risky a product for the general public to use," Carlie said. "There's a big problem with fires starting when they hit buildings or dry, grassy areas."

In 2006, the risk of injury was two-and-a-half times greater for children aged 10-14 than for adults, she said.

"Even the novelty ones can be dangerous. A sparkler can burn at 1,200 degrees, and that's hot enough to cause a nasty burn," Milam said. "It's really just safer and better to go to a professional display in your community. We really encourage people to go to those rather than set fireworks off themselves."

If you time it right, you might find a free show before the Fourth.

"We demo quite a bit after dark," said Daniel, whose volunteers work the TNT tent from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. "If you're driving down High Point Road after dark, you'll see we're our own best customers."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com