Boys shooting off illegal fireworks are being blamed for destroying the roof and attic of a house in Mukilteo and causing about $275,000 worth of damage earlier this week.
Firefighters across the county worry it is just the beginning of what could be an explosive Fourth of July.
A streak of warm, dry weather has set the stage for dangerous conditions for a fireworks-filled holiday weekend. There’s a chance of rain Saturday and Sunday, but it isn’t likely to provide much relief.
“We could be looking at a bang of a year. It’s a little scary,” Marysville Fire District spokesman Nathan Trauernicht said.
Last year, Marysville firefighters responded to 62 fire calls on July 4, including a barn fire caused by a bottle rocket and brush fires around the Tulalip Tribes’ Boom City fireworks center.
Fire Chief Bob Merritt is keeping an eye on the weather report to decide if he’ll bring in more firefighters to protect the 80 square miles in District 4 in eastern Snohomish County.
The holiday keeps firefighters hopping, but they tend to get more calls for fireworks-related fires in the days after the Fourth of July, when parents return to work and children are unsupervised and blow off leftover fireworks, Merritt said
It is likely the boys in Mukilteo who accidentally set fire to a neighbor’s house in the 4500 block of 88th Street SW were unsupervised, Cmdr. Russell Harris said.
It was unclear where the boys, ages 9 to 13, got the fireworks.
It is illegal to discharge fireworks in Mukilteo. Fireworks also are banned in Edmonds, Everett, Gold Bar, Index, Mill Creek, Mukilteo and Woodway city limits.
Everett and the others will be doing their annual fireworks patrols this weekend. Police and firefighters will respond to complaints about fireworks and confiscate them.
Most cities and unincorporated Snohomish County allow only “safe and sane” fireworks to be discharged July 4. Fireworks can be discharged between now and Sunday in Marysville and now and Monday in Monroe.
No matter the limitations, police and firefighters are recommending that residents leave the fireworks up to the professionals.
“Don’t buy fireworks. Go to a fireworks show. They’re better. You’re better off and so is your neighbor,” Mukilteo Fire Chief Jack Colbath said.
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