Moses Lake sees safe Fourth

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake Assistant Fire Chief Brett Bastian spent the last 15 Fourth of Julys fighting fireworks-caused fires but this year was different.

There wasn't one fire reported in the city of Moses Lake on the Fourth of July.

"This is the first year we haven't run on anything," said Bastian. "It's the quietest I have seen."

For the 24 hours of July 4, the Moses Lake Fire Department received eight emergency medical services calls, none relating to fireworks, and one agency assist with a car fire south of Interstate 90.

In 2006, the fire department received 26 calls with 16 being fires, Bastian said.

The city ban on fireworks took effect after the 2006 Fourth of July.

There were fires in the county, one on state Route 17 just north of city limits, and grass fires reported near Warden, Soap Lake and outside of Moses Lake.

City fire crews shifted between stations and patrolled the city waiting for the first report of a fire, but it never came.

Bastian credits the ban on fireworks for dropping the number of fires from 16 to 0 in a year.

"It looks like the ban had a significant effect," Bastian said. "There were still a few fireworks going off … but there was a significant decrease."

The Fourth of July being on a Wednesday affected the number of fireworks being used in the city, he noted. But how much effect remains undetermined.

The hot, dry weather affected the potential for fires. The high temperature for July 4 was 97 degrees with humidity ranging from 17 to 23 percent throughout the day, according to AccuWeather.

"Without the ban in place, I think the weather conditions were right for us to be much busier," said Bastian. "By and large, most people followed the ban."

Bastian recalls the worst year for Fourth of July fires being 1995.

"We ran about 35 calls that day," he said. "That was the worst."

Prior to the ban, there are no fireworks-related fatalities within Moses Lake, according to Bastian.

"Not in my time have we ever lost a structure from fireworks," he added.

Losing a structure means complete destruction, burned to the ground. But Bastian said over the years he saw several homes damaged and severely damaged by fireworks-related fires.