'Unbelievable' fireworks displays light city skies

The Couv is really lighting it up tonight.

With warm weather and a Saturday holiday, the city is full of flashes and booms.

Capt. Kevin Murray of the Vancouver Fire Department reported seeing fireworks in virtually every direction.

"This isn't my first rodeo on this stuff," said Murray, a 25-year veteran of the fire department. "It's unprecedented the amount of stuff going up in the air. It's unbelievable."

Murray was speaking from the fire station at 6701 N.E. 147th Ave. in Sifton shortly after 10:30 p.m.

Murray said he talked to a couple of firefighters who said they didn't even need to use their map light because of the near constant flashes of personal pyrotechnics.

"Part of it, I think, the product keeps getting bigger and better," he said. "It's just unfathomable how much is going off in the air."

A Columbian reporter at Portland's Rocky Butte reported seeing the Vancouver horizon ablaze with fireworks, a continuous giant fireworks display.

So far, there have been numerous reports of small grass fires but no serious structure blazes. Murray said his department planned ahead and had three water tenders and two brush rigs available.

"We are getting a quick response," he said.

In Vancouver, fireworks cannot be used past midnight. Beginning this year, July 5 fireworks are prohibited inside the city limits.

"Tomorrow is sort of uncharted territory," Murray said.

For now, the captain can't help but to be awed by what he sees outside.

"You would really think you were at a show," he said. "And I am not trying to be overly dramatic."