TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, whose job includes the role of state fire marshal, cautioned Floridians to follow fire-safety guidelines ahead of the first New Year’s holiday with a law bolstering the availability of fireworks. Ron DeSantis signed a measure (SB 140) that allows people 18 and older to buy fireworks to use on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Independence Day. Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, called the state’s prior fireworks rules “one of the craziest laws we have on the books.” The old fireworks law prohibited explosives, such as firecrackers, torpedoes and roman candles, while allowing relatively innocuous devices such as sparklers. “You’re basically perjuring yourself every time you purchase fireworks, because you’re signing a paper that most people, I would say everyone, doesn’t use for that purpose,” Rodriguez said in February. The new law eliminated the need for people to declare why they are buying fireworks if they use the fireworks during the three holidays listed in the bill.