The article “Gorge businesses still feel the burn” (Aug. 12, The Columbian) further fanned my flames about the real costs of personal fireworks. The Eagle Creek Fire required $40 million to quench, there were several homes lost, and it put firefighters’ lives at risk.
You can thank Clark County’s councilors’ policy allowing personal fireworks for this. Remember the half-inch of ash blanketing us and the poor air quality for days? Now let’s add $13.9 million lost in lodging business and $13.5 million across both Oregon and Washington, tallied in the article. The grand total is now at $67.4 million.
I couldn’t believe all of the above wasn’t enough to end the possibility of this happening again. Instead, the councilors considered opinions from the guy who wants to keep making a few thousand dollars selling fireworks, and another guy who depends on the donated money to build a float in a parade.
I’d rather be able to hike through a national heritage site like Eagle Creek, but that’s gone now for the rest of my life. And what kind of neighbor does that make Washington? Oregon has a sane fireworks law, but you can buy the big bangers in Washington and set them off across state lines, wreaking havoc and destruction.
