In a swift response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, where explosives crafted from fireworks powder caused chaos near the race’s finish line, executives at Phantom Fireworks took immediate action, even before receiving any official requests.
They initiated an internal investigation.
By cross-referencing the Tsarnaev brothers’ names against their sales records, the company discovered a significant purchase made by one of the siblings at a New Hampshire outlet. This proactive approach has since become standard whenever fireworks are linked to potential terror activities or homemade bombs.
Recently, when suspects in an alleged ISIS-inspired plot in New York City were identified, Phantom Fireworks quickly employed the same method.
Surveillance footage reportedly captures Emir Balat acquiring a fireworks fuse in Pennsylvania on March 2, 2026. (This footage is provided courtesy of Phantom Fireworks.)
Moments later, the sale was confirmed through their database.
At 12:46 p.m. on March 2, an 18-year-old named Emir Balat walked into a suburban Pennsylvania fireworks store and spent $6.89 on a 20-foot coil of green consumer safety fuse, Phantom Fireworks told Fox News Digital.
Nothing about the purchase stood out at the time.
Surveillance video appears to show Emir Balat at the fireworks store making a purchase. (Footage courtesy of Phantom Fireworks)
Surveillance video appears to show Balat ringing a bell at the counter before an employee emerges from the back. He appears to hand over his driver’s license, waits as it is scanned and signs the registration form printed by the system.
The person believed to be Balat then pays at the register and leaves with a plastic-wrapped package small enough to fit in one hand.
Days later, after his name surfaced in connection with the alleged terror plot near the home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Phantom Fireworks’ search produced a timestamp and a digital trail.
For a company built around celebration — Fourth of July backyard shows, wedding sendoffs and bursts of color in the sky — the routine has become an uneasy one.
“It sort of feels like we’ve been invaded,” Bill Weimer, the company’s vice president and general counsel, told Fox News Digital. “Violated is the word I’m looking for.”
Weimer said nothing about the March 2 purchase raised suspicion at the time.
Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, are accused of bringing homemade bombs to a protest outside the home of New York City’s mayor. (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York)
“Under these circumstances, it looks pretty natural for a young fellow like that to come into a fireworks store and buy something,” Weimer said. “Totally, from our point of view, an unremarkable event. Until it became remarkable by how he used the product.”
According to the store, Balat purchased a single item: a consumer fireworks fuse. It burns slowly and is designed to be extinguished if reached in time. It is not explosive on its own.
“Consumer Fireworks Fuse looks about the diameter of twine that you would use to wrap a package,” Weimer said. “It’s green, it’s fairly flimsy. It’s called Safety Fuse, which means you can stomp it out.”
The suspect, identified as Emir Balat, was seen holding the alleged bomb in front of Gracie’s Mansion in New York City. (United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
What made the difference was not the fuse but Phantom Fireworks’ system.
The company maintains transaction logs stretching back nearly two decades. In many states, customers’ driver’s licenses are scanned and stored upon entry. Registration forms are retained according to local law. Receipts are timestamped down to the minute. Purchases can be matched directly to in-store surveillance video.
Those timestamps allow employees to retrieve video quickly without combing through hours of footage.
The suspect appears to run away after he allegedly threw the explosive. (United States District Court for the Southern District of New York)
When terror suspects’ names appear in headlines — particularly when fireworks or homemade devices are mentioned — Weimer said the response inside Phantom Fireworks is almost automatic.
“We’re the biggest company around,” Weimer said. “Anytime I hear a bad story about fireworks, I get the name and I look it up.”
That reflex surfaced the March 2 transaction within minutes of Balat’s name becoming public. The receipt showed the exact time of purchase. From there, employees were able to locate the corresponding surveillance video.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, carried out the Boston Marathon bombings, though at trial, Dzhokhar claimed his older brother was mainly responsible. (The Associated Press 2013)
“We’re not novices in dealing with investigative authorities,” Weimer said. “We have dealt with investigative authorities before.”
The company’s history in high-profile cases underscores why the reflex exists.
After the Boston Marathon bombing, Phantom Fireworks’ search found that one of the Tsarnaev brothers had purchased fireworks at its Seabrook, New Hampshire, store. Investigators later determined the bombers had visited multiple fireworks retailers, harvesting powder from consumer products to build pressure-cooker bombs.
In 2010, during the failed Times Square bombing attempt, the suspect attempted to use consumer fireworks to ignite a larger device.
It did not detonate as intended.
“They’re designed not to do that,” Weimer said. “They are not intended to mass detonate or chain ignite.”
Unless fireworks are specifically packaged to ignite sequentially, he said, they function independently — a safety feature intended to prevent mass ignition.
Phantom Fireworks operates nearly 100 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide, along with seasonal tents and wholesale distribution. The tracking system exists primarily to comply with state regulations, verify age requirements and maintain consistent records across dozens of locations.
But in moments like this, it becomes something more consequential — a ready-made paper trail.
The company does not wait for subpoenas before checking its records when terror suspects are identified publicly. Weimer said searching the database has become part of the company’s response when fireworks surface in violent incidents.
Yet for a retailer built around spectacle and celebration, the association carries weight.
“That bothers us every time something like that happens. Somebody somewhere is gonna decide not to buy fireworks,” Weimer said. “It’s not good for business. Plus, the principal issue is that it’s not good for people, not good for our country.”
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