A bill that would give the governor and local governments more power to restrict fireworks during times of high fire risk won praise from several fire chiefs and mayors from around the state. But it ran into stiff opposition in a Senate committee meeting Tuesday, when owners of several fireworks businesses around the state said the bill would dry up their livelihoods.

Opponents' move to table -- and effectively kill -- Senate Bill 5 in the Senate Public Affairs Committee failed by a single vote. The committee then voted to send the measure on to the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee without recommendation.

Gov. Susana Martinez called for such a bill last summer when forest fires -- including the Las Conchas Fire near Los Alamos -- were raging around the state.

Committee Chairwoman Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, one of the bill's sponsors, said the bill would give local governments and the governor more tools to deal with fire dangers in such times. She recalled a major fire in the bosque in Albuquerque in 2003, which she said came within a few blocks of her own home. That fire, which was caused by fireworks, burned about 150 acres.

"I won't forget what it's like for folks to be given one-half hour to gather their belongings and get out," she said.

But those who earn their livings selling fireworks said a low percentage of forest fires around the state are caused by fireworks.

"It's a free country," said Eddie Arnett, a co-owner of a Roswell-based family business, Amy's Fireworks, after the hearing. "What the hell are they doing?"

Arnett said if SB 5 had been in effect, "I would only have been able to be open one year in the past eight years." He said he and his wife started the business about 30 years ago, first in a roadside stand, then in a tent and finally in a permanent building.

Opponents of the bill said there were almost 600 permits to sell fireworks issued by the state last year.

Besides the economic impact on the fireworks sellers, some, including Sen. Tim Eisenberg, D-Albuquerque, argued that the bill would have no effect on fireworks sold on Indian land.

In some areas, such as Santa Fe, fireworks stands on Indian land are responsible for a huge percentage of fireworks sold. While fireworks merchants on non-Indian lands are limited to low-key fireworks such as fountains, sparklers and smoke bombs, sellers on Indian land have no such restrictions.

Some committee members suggested that advocates of the bill get together with fireworks businesses and come up with a compromise.

After the hearing, Rep. Nate Gentry, R-Albuquerque, a co-sponsor of SB 5, said one possible compromise that's been under discussion is allowing the state forester, not the governor, to make the determination when fireworks sales could be prohibited in areas of high fire danger.

Interviewed after the hearing, Martinez said she could live with giving that power to the state forester.

Asked about the fact that the bill wouldn't affect sales of fireworks on Indian land, Martinez said she's confident that agreements could be worked out with tribes and pueblos. "They've seen the damage fire can do to their lands and to their water," she said.

Under current law, Feldman said, municipal and county governments can prohibit the sale of all fireworks, but they must do so only after giving a 20-day notice. SB 5 would do away with that requirement.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.