Moses Lake council looks to ban sky lanterns

MOSES LAKE - The City of Moses Lake will likely follow in the footsteps of Grant County in banning the use of sky lanterns.

The Moses Lake City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance Tuesday banning the lanterns, recommended by Moses Lake Fire Chief Tom Taylor as a preventative measure.

"It's my job as a fire chief to prevent fires, to be proactive not reactive and that's what we're trying to do here," Taylor said.

Grant County fire chiefs met with county commissioners earlier in the month presenting a similar ordinance. The commissioners passed the ordinance unanimously.

Taylor and other fire chiefs urges municipalities to also ban sky lanterns to prevent any future problems.

"I consider sky lanterns to be probably a worse fire hazard than most fireworks," Taylor said at Tuesday's city council meeting.

Taylor added sky lanterns are not sold at any stores locally but are readily available online.

"The problem the sky lanterns create is once they're set aloft, they're at the mercy of the breeze or the wind," he said.

Taylor pointed out most sky lanterns are not to be used when winds exceed 4 mph.

"I don't think there's too many days where we have winds less than four miles per hour," he said.

The lanterns are generally made of a rice paper attached to a wire frame with a fire source underneath, working similar to a hot air balloon.

When the fire is out, the lanterns are designed to fall back to the ground but Taylor said wind could cause the lanterns to land on trees, bushes or roofs before the fire is out.

The council will vote again at the June 11 meeting.