In our view, June 30, 2009: Cover Your Ears!

This is probably the first tri-species request we've ever made on this editorial page: On behalf of harried humans, panicky pooches and fearful felines across our fabulous Clark County, could we please have complete compliance with fireworks curfews this year? OK, "complete" might be an unreasonable expectation. We'll settle for "improved" compliance.

It is illegal to use fireworks in most jurisdictions after 11 p.m. (10 p.m. in La Center) each evening through Friday (July 3). On Saturday (July 4) the curfew will extend to midnight (11 p.m. in La Center). Purely anecdotal observations lead us to believe that the worst fireworks violations — certainly the most noticeable — each year are abuses of curfews.

So mark it down and post it somewhere near your heat shield and launching pad: 11 p.m. each night, midnight on Saturday. And when the curfew arrives, shut 'er down. If your neighbors are forced to tolerate your pyrotechnic proclivity, the least you could do while you're blowing up stuff is to do so lawfully.

Here's a second request: Could we — some day in the distant future — please have uniformity of legal fireworks dates across Clark County? "It would be nice if we could get on the same schedule," Vancouver Fire Marshal Jim Crawford said in a Friday Columbian story by Jeffrey Mize. Yes, it would be nice, and it would make it a lot easier for the blow-'em-up brigade to follow the laws if they had standardized laws.

This year, Vancouver allows fireworks until 11 p.m. through Friday and until midnight on Saturday. That's the same as in Battle Ground, Camas, Yacolt and unincorporated Clark County. The only difference is that, in Vancouver — for the first time this year — fireworks are illegal on July 5. Because setting off fireworks on July 5 makes about as much sense as opening Christmas presents on Dec. 26, we editorially applauded this change in Vancouver this year. Clark County will institute the July 5 ban next year, and we wish Battle Ground, Camas and Yacolt would do the same.

But even if those four jurisdictions had matched Vancouver's schedule this year, it would only have lasted a year. Starting next year, Vancouver will allow fireworks only for four days: July 1 through July 4. Another smart move, in our opinion. Uniform fireworks schedules across Clark County are a mere dream. There's a mishmash of rules. For example, in Washougal this year, fireworks are legal only on July 4. So it's unlikely these schedules could ever be standardized.

County and city law authorities are lowering enforcement efforts this year because of tighter budgets, but they're not saying by how much, and they're not announcing their enforcement schedules because they understandably don't want to show their hands. We do know that Vancouver will have special enforcement on July 5 this year, when fireworks will be banned for the first time.

The number of citations in Vancouver has decreased in recent years, from 60 citations for illegal fireworks and 84 citations for curfew and parks violations (144 total) in 2005 to 77 total in 2006, 38 in 2007 and 19 in 2008. No one is sure what caused this trend. Some might say it's because fireworks practitioners are behaving better, but we know a panicky pooch or two that will argue it's because fewer patrols are on the prowl.

Regardless, have a safe and happy celebration. Respect your neighbors by following the rules. If someone still complains, why not err on the side of courtesy?