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City, county step up fireworks restrictions amid increased fire risk

Posted on June 30th, 2023 By: Vince Dice

The 4th of July season is typically a busy one for Katie Bennett, but not so much this year.

Bennett, the Gig Harbor High School girls soccer coach, usually spends the last days of June and the first of July running a fireworks stand with her players. But a city of Gig Harbor ban on sales and use of fireworks that went into effect this year meant the team could no longer operate its stand outside the Beach Basket on Harborview Drive.

She thought she had a new location lined up outside city limits, but her fireworks vendor encountered a last-minute permitting snafu. The Tides soccer team doesn’t have a stand this year, leaving what Bennett estimated to be a $15,000 hole in the club’s budget.

“We’re trying to figure out new ways to fundraise,” Bennett said. “We took a huge hit.”

The team used the money for everything from balls and uniforms to team-building activities and buying pizzas for visiting teams coming from far away to play the Tides. “It was for ALL the things,” Bennett said.

Only one fireworks stand between the bridges

In addition to the ban on personal fireworks inside city limits (sparklers and cap guns are exempt), Pierce County also has cracked down on their use.

PIERCE COUNTY FIREWORKS RESTRICTED TO JULY 4, 10AM – 11:59PM

More info: https://t.co/Avw782QaVg pic.twitter.com/trNHO1Y8oT

— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) June 30, 2023

An ordinance that went into effect this year allows personal fireworks to be discharged only from 10 a.m. until midnight on July 4 and Dec. 31.

Not coincidentally, fireworks are harder to find than ever before in the Gig Harbor area. Just one stand, Local Pyro Boys in the Bridgeway Market parking lot, is selling fireworks between the Narrows Bridge and the Purdy Bridge. Two others are in the Wauna area, just across the Purdy bridge.

Last year, the city of Gig Harbor issued permits for five stands in city limits and Pierce County permitted four in the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsulas.

But this year, Thomas Jones’ Local Pyro Boys is the only game in town.

“It’s been improved from last year,” Jones said of his sales on Thursday, June 29, the second day the county allowed fireworks sales. “It’s picking up. We’ve seen a big change since Gig Harbor changed to no fireworks.”

Thomas Jones said he has seen an uptick in business this year at his Local Pyro Boys fireworks stand in Purdy. Local Pyro Boys is the only permitted fireworks sand between the Narrows and Purdy bridges.

Fireworks and fire danger

City council members and residents who spoke in support of the ban in June 2022 cited a litany of reasons for doing away with celebratory explosives. Many mentioned their effect on pets. Others pointed to the plight of military veterans, for whom fireworks might trigger PTSD. Some cited possible environmental concerns, noise pollution and impacts to wildlife.

But fire danger was the most-cited concern. And the ban takes effect in what is shaping up to be a potentially bad fire season.

Firefighters battle a blaze along Highway 16 on June 25.

Dev McMillan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Seattle office, said the region has seen about 6 inches less rainfall through the end of June 2023 than in a typical year. He said the Climate Prediction Center forecasts a 50 to 60 percent chance of higher-than-normal temperatures for the remainder of the summer.

“So far across the area this year, we’ve been well below average in terms of precipitation,” McMillan said. “That, coupled with some decent warm spells we’ve seen so far this season, is definitely not helping our fire weather.”

Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One Chief Dennis Doan said a two-alarm brush fire last week may be a harbinger of what sort of fire season is in store for the region. Only calm wind conditions prevented an even larger conflagration.

“If that would’ve been a wind-driven fire, we might still be fighting it,” he said.

Risk of brush fires

Banning fireworks or limiting their availability or use should decrease fire risk this year, GHFMO officials said. Nationwide, fireworks cause about 19,000 fires per year, most of them brush fires.

Fireworks caused three brush fires that Gig Harbor Fire responded to on the 4th of July in 2021 and another last year, when a wet spring somewhat ameliorated the risk, according to GHFMO Operations and Fire Prevention Chief Tom Wescott.

Fire officials hope the ban in the city and restricted hours outside it lead to a quieter season.

“As Americans, we love our fireworks. I don’t want to start that battle here at all,” Doan said. “I just wish that as neighbors, we would just stop for a minute and think about what we’re doing. … Where does your right to fire off fireworks infringe on someone else’s right to have a safe home?”

However, Gig Harbor Fire has no role in enforcing fireworks regulations. That’s the job of police.

Thousand-dollar fines? Probably not this year

The Gig Harbor Police Department traditionally hasn’t faced a huge number of fireworks complaints on the 4th. Chief Kelly Busey said the department averages about four a year.

That number will go up with a complete ban, as people will be more likely to report any use of personal fireworks. Unlike some departments, which ignore fireworks complaints, Gig Harbor Police will endeavor to respond to all of them.

Busey said he will instruct officers to take an educational approach whenever possible. As it’s the first year of the ban, some people undoubtedly will not even be aware of it.

Violations can be punished by a fine of up to $1,000. “But I’m not interested in handing out thousand-dollar tickets, at all,” Busey said.

“We’ll be completely heavy on the education side,” he said. “We don’t want to take enforcement. We understand that there’s a learning curve.”

When the city of Gig Harbor banned sales or use of personal fireworks, Thomas Jones expanded the offerings at his Local Pyro Boys stand, located outside city limits in Purdy.

Do fireworks bans work?

When the city council considered the ban in June 2022, the vast majority of public comments favored the idea. But a handful of voices spoke in opposition.

Bennett, the Gig Harbor soccer coach, was one. Representatives of other nonprofits also spoke against the ban, citing fireworks stands as a uniquely effective fundraising tool.

Others pointed out that banning or restricting fireworks sales locally could drive consumers to tribal stands, which operate with fewer restrictions. People could find that their neighbors end up with louder and more dangerous fireworks than before the ban.

Randy Curley, a Kennewick-based representative for TNT Fireworks, argued that fireworks bans are ineffective.

“Bans don’t work,” Curley told the council in a June 13, 2022, meeting. “Ask Tacoma. They’ve been banned for 10 years. Look across the bay, there’s more fireworks going on than there were before. It isn’t enforceable.”

Future public celebration

Others said that with fireworks banned and no public 4th of July celebration, it will feel like Gig Harbor doesn’t observe Independence Day at all. That could change next year.

The city budgeted about $200,000 for a public 4th of July event in 2024, according to City Administrator Katrina Knutson. The city is working with an outside contractor to plan the event.

It isn’t a sure thing, though. The city’s sales tax and permitting revenues took an unexpected dip early this year. Knutson said city staff plan to check with the City Council to make sure they are still comfortable spending money on the 2024 4th of July celebration.

“We can’t say it’s a sure thing,” Knutson said, “but there’s a meeting scheduled to discuss it further.”

2023 4th of July season

The rules: Sales and use of personal fireworks are banned inside the city of Gig Harbor. In unincorporated Pierce County, fireworks can be discharged only from 10 a.m. to midnight on the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve. Click here to see if you’re inside or outside city limits.

Reporting violations: Report fireworks violations by calling South Sound 911’s non-emergency line at (253) 287-4455 or 800-562-9800. To report fires or fireworks-related injuries, call 911.

Forecast: The National Weather Service warns of increased heat and fire weather risks around the 4th of July. No precipitation is anticipated and temperatures could soar into the mid-80s.