It’s almost time for the annual “Tent Wars” that break out during Vancouver and Clark County fireworks sales. Two large firms come into the area, rent space, set up tents or work from a permanent warehouse for only 10 days and sell fireworks that, of course, are not legal in Oregon and in many cities and counties in Washington state. At the end of the sales period, the out-of-town firms leave with huge profits and little support for the cleanup required as a result of our being the most populous city and county in the state that allows aerial and mortar-style fireworks.
One of the major challenges that continues is that the county ordinance and the city of Vancouver policy are not the same. This means that other cities like Camas, Washougal and Clark County can have different rules for what kind of fireworks can be sold. The best solution is for the county and the city of Vancouver to unite on one ordinance that bans aerial and mortar-style fireworks. One only needs to check the parking lots at the stands and see that many of the buyers are in vehicles with Oregon licenses as a reason to move forward with this revision to the law.
Greg Flakus
Vancouver
