Bans fail to quiet July 4th booms in Snohomish County

People who set off fireworks in Snohomish County cities where they are banned received few tickets over the Fourth of July holiday.

Even so, Snohomish County Councilman Mike Cooper is still pushing for a ban for the unincorporated parts of the county.

In the areas where bans exist, “I know they’re having fewer fires,” he said.

His idea for a county ban so far hasn’t gained traction with his fellow council members. County staff is researching how the ban has worked in four other Washington counties with fireworks bans: Franklin, Okanogan, Spokane and Yakima.

Some of Cooper’s colleagues worry that a fireworks ban would be a drain on the sheriff’s office and wouldn’t do much good anyway.

“Some of the council members are concerned that we won’t be able to enforce this,” Cooper said.

During a discussion of the proposed ban with the County Council last month, sheriff’s office Bureau Chief Kevin Prentiss said he doesn’t have the staffing to enforce a ban. The sheriff’s office wouldn’t support one unless the county provided a way to pay for it.

“The only way we could really enforce this right now is to do it on overtime,” Prentiss said. Firefighters who cover the area hardest hit by fireworks damage in 2009 strongly support a ban in unincorporated parts of the county.

Fire District 1 is responsible for covering unincorporated areas from Everett south. It also provides contract fire services for the cities of Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace, which have bans, and Brier, which doesn’t. Its commissioners support a county fireworks ban.

In 2009, Fire District 1 dealt with a number of fireworks-related incidents, including four people injured by fireworks and five structure fires that caused more than $1.75 million in property damage.

This year’s Independence Day period was lighter for District 1. From June 29 to July 5, the district’s crews responded to fireworks-related fires involving debris, a fence, portable toilets and a fireworks stand, but none involving houses.

A 14-year-old boy in the Silver Firs area was burned July 2 after bottle rockets ignited in his pants, District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said. The rockets were extinguished before they exploded, but the boy suffered serious burns.

The most serious incidents in District 1 occurred in unincorporated areas.

On a Tulalip beach on the morning of July 5, an 11-year-old boy from Bothell was injured after he picked up what he thought was a dud firework and it blew up in his hand.

The seven local municipalities with fireworks bans are: Edmonds, Everett, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Gold Bar and Woodway.

Residents have complained that bans aren’t enforced in places that have them. Police departments did report issuing citations, but not in large numbers.

Everett received 289 complaints about fireworks from July 1 to July 4.

Officers handed out two $257 tickets and 228 warnings, city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said. In some cases, officers couldn’t find the people lighting the fireworks.

They also confiscated 300 pounds of fireworks, including sparklers and cherry bombs. They’ll be destroyed.

Edmonds police issued no citations, but did confiscate and destroy some fireworks, Sgt. Don Anderson said.

Mountlake Terrace police issued two citations on July 3 and 4, operations commander Craig McCaul said. There were 23 fireworks calls from July 4 into the next morning.

“I had units dedicated to just handling fireworks calls — leaving the other areas to handle police related calls,” McCaul said.

This year, sheriff’s deputies received “tons of fireworks related complaints,” but couldn’t respond to most of them because of the large volume of calls, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. Citation statistics weren’t immediately available.

Another obstacle to enforcing a ban stems from people being able to buy fireworks on Indian reservations or in cities without bans, such as Lynnwood. That wouldn’t change even if a more restrictive law takes effect in unincorporated parts of the county.

Councilman John Koster, who represents the northern part of the county, where no bans are in place, complained during last month’s meeting that, “the vast majority of (complaints) I get in my office are about fireworks that are already illegal.”

The earliest a ban in unincorporated parts of the county could take effect is 2012, since state law requires a yearlong wait after lawmakers pass them.

Debra Smith and Oscar Halpert contributed to this report.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.