Illegal fireworks a problem

QUINCY - Grant County Fire District 3's chief asked the Quincy City Council to support state legislation limiting firework sales and use.

Don Fortier made the request during a recent city council meeting, saying some of the fireworks being used are dangerous, or they're being used dangerously.

"Last night was just crazy. I'm starting to fear for my property, my family's property, my neighbor's property," he said. "We got extremely lucky. We had no wind and we didn't have any fires in the City of Quincy (on Monday.) We had two (on Tuesday,) and one was definitely fireworks related."

People are setting off a tremendous amount of illegal fireworks in the city, Fortier said; adding he doesn't think the answer to the issue is banning fireworks in the city because it forces people to use them in the county.

"The county fire chiefs got together with the county commissioners last year and encouraged the county commissioners to look into banning fireworks county wide, but they weren't interested in doing that," he said.

Several Eastern Washington counties have banned fireworks, including Yakima and Spokane counties, and it's been successful, Fortier said. Chelan and Douglas counties examined it, but chose not to create a ban.

"I was reading in the paper tonight, they had over 30 fires, and, again, there was no wind last night," he said. "When I went home last night, I saw rockets, not being shot straight up in the air, being shot across the sky and landing over in, what looked to me like, the old Blue Ribbon Produce. I thought to myself, 'That's just phosphorous. It's extremely hot and if it lands on that tar roof, we've got a major fire.'"

Fortier suggested the council support possible legislation to ban fireworks state-wide because the types of fireworks available have escalated beyond "safe and sane" ones.

"I think one of the answers would be to tighten up the ordinances to clean up after yourself," he said. "I know that the police can in no way police the community and look for illegal fireworks. It's a lot of technical work to be able to identify an illegal firework."

People are getting the illegal fireworks from places such as reservations or out-of-state stores, and bringing them to Quincy, Fortier said.

Mayor Jim Hemberry received a phone call and an email about fireworks, and plans to discuss it during the next public safety committee meeting, he said.

"I know there was one that went off around 11 p.m. around my house that shook my windows," he said. "That had to be one that wasn't legal."

Police Chief Richard Ackerman added in 37 years of law enforcement, he hasn't heard an area as loud for as long as Quincy was during the holiday weekend.

"It sounds like sticks of dynamite going off, and I found at least four or five expired rockets in my yard," he said. "I was pretty amazed. It was all over town ... It was so many places I would need 20 officers to curtail it, or at least enforce it."

Councilmember Jeremy McCreary asked what would happen if the city banned the fireworks.

Friends in the Yakima Valley have told Fortier the ban has cut back on fireworks use, and simplifies enforcement, he said.

"If you're lighting off fireworks, it's pretty easy, you're lighting off fireworks, you write him a ticket," he said. "Now it's like, you're lighting off fireworks, but is it illegal or is it legal fireworks? They have to make that determination."

Fortier repeated he didn't want the fireworks banned in the city, simply for the city council to support possible state-wide legislation.

"I'm almost certain that the state chief's association will be looking at this next year," he said.