The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court, asks that a judge force state fire officials to grant a permit for Sunday's display in Charleston. A hearing date on the case, which has been assigned to Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker, was not immediately available.
City fire and police officials approved the $2,000 show on May 24, and the permit application was sent later that day - 14 days before Symphony Sunday, according to the lawsuit.
State fire officials refused the permit because the application must be received 15 days before the event - as stated in the form, the lawsuit said.
Symphony Sunday organizers said they tried to get city approval on May 20 and 21, but neither Charleston's fire chief nor assistant fire chief was available.
``The State Fire Marshal's refusal to approve the application is an abuse of his authority and discretion in the circumstances, and represents a refusal to perform a ministerial duty,'' the lawsuit states.
Lewis said Wednesday he is following an agency rule, and that the symphony has applied for permits in previous years at least two months ahead of time.
``It's not like they didn't know the rule,'' he said.
Lewis said the agency was sued in 1996 by the family of a fireworks shooter who was killed during a Fourth of July celebration in Cameron. The permit for that celebration was granted less than 15 days before the event.
That lawsuit was settled about a year ago for $278,000, Lewis said. When that ruling came down, Lewis sent out letters to pyrotechnicians across the state informing them that the 15-day rule would ``not be bent or broken for any reason,'' he said.
The 22-year-old Symphony Sunday event was to conclude with a fireworks display launched from a barge on the Kanawha River.
``The WVSO, Symphony Sunday, their supporters and contributors, hundreds of volunteers and the thousands of persons who look forward to the now-traditional West Virginia Symphony Orchestra performance accompanied by a magnificent fireworks display at the close of Symphony Sunday celebration will be irreparably harmed if the fireworks display cannot go forward as planned on (June 6, 2004),'' the lawsuit states.
