After the bangs and booms of the Fourth of July, Pierce County Council member Dick Muri heard an earful from some of his constituents about fireworks.
“The area between Steilacoom and Lakewood became a war zone,” Muri said.
Now a County Council committee responding to fireworks complaints is exploring options, from an outright ban on so-called “safe and sane” fireworks to reducing the hours and days they can be set off legally.
Several council members agreed last week to meet with officials from the the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and the prosecuting attorney’s office to get their feedback.
The initial response from the sheriff’s department is one of caution.
The Fourth of July is “one of our busiest days of the year,” said spokesman Ed Troyer, citing alcohol-related incidents, assaults and water accidents. “It’s really going to be hard for us to crisscross the county and enforce a fireworks ban.”
The local patchwork of fireworks rules is confusing for everyone. Steilacoom banned them on the Fourth of July for the first time this year, joining Tacoma and a handful of other cities with outright prohibitions.
But they’re legal for 12 hours a day July 3-5 in Lakewood.
In the unincorporated county, they’re legal for at least 11 hours each day from June 28 through July 5.
Muri wondered why fireworks are legal for a full week in the county instead of just on the holiday.
“It’s not Independence Week that I know of,” Muri said. “We could maybe at least keep the carnage down to one day.”
Tony Holien told the council committee he can’t leave his house in Parkland on Independence Day for fear of fireworks.
“Every year, I worry what will be on my roof and yard,” Holien said.
This Fourth of July he found a large rocket on his roof and a parachute rocket in a nearby bush.
“It is irresponsible not to have them banned,” he told the committee.
Sandy Jacobson, who lives in unincorporated Pierce County, said she’s become “a prisoner in our own home” because of fireworks around the Fourth of July. “It’s just a safety issue.”
The number of fireworks calls in the area between Lakewood and Steilacoom does not clearly back up the “war zone” description.
The area, which includes the neighborhoods of Arrowhead and Partridge Glen, has had relatively few fireworks calls around the holiday for the past three years, Troyer said.
Since 2009, the sheriff’s department has received three fireworks calls on July 4 and seven on July 5 for those areas, including no calls on July 4 of this year and two on July 5, Troyer told The News Tribune.
“It’s not as bad as the rest of the county,” he said.
Troyer stressed the sheriff’s department and prosecutor’s office need to be involved in the council’s talks about a ban.
“The ban is only going to stop people who are willing to stop because of the ban,” Troyer said.
Council member Rick Talbert, who formerly was on the Tacoma City Council, said a prohibition such as Tacoma’s fosters ill will toward public officials.
Thousands of people defy the ban – too many for police to cite. People like having a ban but get upset at all the fireworks going off despite it, Talbert said.
“The real issue is one of enforcement,” he said.
Muri brought up the issue last week at a meeting of the public safety and human services committee, for which he is chairman.
Talbert isn’t on that committee but recommended having a formal discussion with the prosecutor’s office, the sheriff’s department and at least one fire district.
That discussion could take place when the committee meets again Sept. 12.
Steve Maynard: 253-597-8647
steve.maynard@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/polibuzz
