Vancouver councilors like idea of fireworks ban, not immediate action

After a chaotic Fourth of July, the Vancouver City Council favors banning personal fireworks within city limits, but members are torn on whether to hold a citizens’ advisory vote.

Following a Vancouver Fire Department presentation Monday about the impacts of fireworks on the community, six city councilors said they think it’s time to ban fireworks in city limits. Mayor Tim Leavitt was absent but relayed a message that he too felt a ban was appropriate.

Councilors Alishia Topper and Bart Hansen insisted that the public should have the chance to weigh in on the decision, even though they weren’t opposed to a ban.

“On an issue like this, I feel as though because every single citizen has a unique opinion about it, they should be given an option to vote,” Topper said.

Councilors Bill Turlay and Anne McEnerny-Ogle were undecided about holding an advisory vote, and Councilor Jack Burkman and Mayor Pro Tem Larry Smith opposed it, wanting to take immediate action.

Burkman said it is the job of elected officials to make decisions on contentious issues, and he wondered how much clarity an advisory vote would bring, especially if the numbers were close.

“I think it’s a delaying tactic for us. I don’t think in the end it will provide value,” Burkman argued.

McEnerny-Ogle wanted more information about how much money the fire department spent on overtime during the fireworks sales season this year.

“I suspect we can’t afford to continue this financially and for the safety of our citizens,” she said.

The council will consider the topic again in a couple of weeks when everyone is present and staff can deliver the additional information requested, said Smith, who was filling in for Leavitt. Under state law, any changes in fireworks regulations require 365 days’ notice. That means if the city wants changes to be effective by July 4, 2017, the city council must have a new ordinance in place by July 3, 2016.

Vancouver has been tightening fireworks rules in the years since 1982, when it legalized the sales and use of fireworks from June 28 to July 5 and New Year’s Eve. In 2005, the city banned fireworks on New Year’s Eve. In 2008, the council reduced fireworks use to July 1 to 4 and barred their sale on July 5. In 2012, the council banned fireworks use to only July 4 and curbed their legal sales days to July 2 to 4, which is how things remain.

Fireworks rules vary in other Clark County jurisdictions.

The Vancouver Fire Department presented the following statistics to the council:

• The estimated property loss from fireworks-related blazes in the city has fluctuated over the last decade. Some years, such as from 2007 through 2010, and 2014, the loss was less than $5,000. Property losses spiked in 2006 ($276,500 damage) and 2012 ($278,800 damage) before hitting a peak this year at $574,376, which Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli called “a very conservative number.”

• The fire department has responded to relatively few fireworks injuries, ranging from one to four injuries per year since 2006, with the exception of last year, when there were no reported injuries.

• Citations have fallen for using fireworks outside of permitted hours, using illegal fireworks or shooting them off in parks since 2006, when 136 tickets were issued in Vancouver. No citations were issued in 2010 and 2011. Last year, 47 citations were issued, and 46 were issued this year.

• From 2011 through 2014, emergency calls to the Vancouver Fire Department averaged 546 a day from June 28 to July 5. This year, calls surged to an average of 900 per day — about a 65 percent increase that correlated with the parched weather conditions.

“We were frankly stretched beyond our resources to handle medical calls” on July 4, which prompted the department to rely on American Medical Response, Fire Chief Joe Molina said. “It was the most activity we’ve ever seen on one day at the Vancouver Fire Department.”

• From June 28 to July 6, there were 604 fireworks complaints to the 911 dispatch, 75 complaints to the Vancouver Fire Marshal’s Office, 145 calls, emails and letters to the city manager’s office and 121 fireworks-related posts to the city’s Facebook page.

• The city had 21 fireworks stands this year. By law, the city can charge only $100 for a fireworks stand permit, which means the city’s revenue was $2,100. Nonprofit groups that run the stands don’t pay sales tax to the state.