Nearly nine years after following an advisory vote to ban the discharge of fireworks in the City of Sequim, city councilors plan to discuss options for banning the sale of fireworks sometime in October.

Councilor Kathy Downer asked for a possible fireworks ban ordinance at the Aug. 12 city council meeting.

“If (people) can’t shoot (fireworks) off in Sequim, I don’t think they should be selling them,” she said in an interview. “It gives them a feeling they can shoot them off.”

At the August meeting, she said there were safety concerns about people trying to shoot fireworks in Carrie Blake Community Park, Trinity United Methodist Church and the adjacent Blake property — where it’s not allowed and already very dry.

Former Sequim school board member Jim Stoffer who attends the church said in the public comments that he stopped people trying to shoot fireworks who had just bought fireworks in the city, and that the city should consider more signage about not shooting fireworks.

Downer said Sequim Police responded to each call for illegal fireworks on July 4 and found they weren’t being discharged in city limits.

Deputy police chief John Southard said in an email back in July there were 11 fireworks complaints between 7 p.m.-midnight on July 4, and four complaints were city residents reporting fireworks going off in the county, which isn’t illegal on the holiday.

Another complaint was about the city’s fireworks show and the resident not knowing it was the approved show, he said.

Southard added that one resident called multiple times, but when officers responded no fireworks were going off, or the ones that they found were being set off outside of city limits.

“We received voluntary compliance from all parties we contacted who were alleged to be setting of fireworks in city limits,” he said.

Since the ban, officers have said they’ve always sought voluntary compliance first.

Sequim Police Department’s enforcement options for firework violations, include, verbal warnings, seizure of fireworks, referral of criminal charges and/or a physical arrest.

Under the city’s Municipal Code, residents found illegally shooting fireworks could face a gross misdemeanor fine up to $5,000 or up to 364 days in jail.

Clallam County Fire District 3 reported that four smaller fires over the Fourth of July weekend were or possibly linked to fireworks in the City of Sequim, and they didn’t respond to any fires linked to firework-related calls in unincorporated Clallam County in the Sequim area.

Background

In November 2016, city residents voted 65.6% (2,642) in favor of an advisory vote asking the city council to ban the discharge of all commercial fireworks. Councilors followed the vote with unanimous approval of an ordinance banning discharging fireworks in July 2017. A public display was proposed as an alternative.

Fireworks booths are allowed in city limits from June 28-July 5, with one booth allowed per 1,500 persons residing in the city.

According to an application for a booth, “the city fire marshal shall have the inherent authority to prohibit the use and sale of fireworks at any time when he or she deems such sale and use to be a danger to the public health, safety and welfare, and specifically when he or she deems the weather conditions to be such that there is an unacceptably increased risk of fire.”

During first discussions in the summer of 2016 about banning fireworks, city councilors didn’t want to negatively impact nonprofits who operate fireworks booths for various causes.

City staff advised against allowing firework sales at the time, and Sequim might be the only city in the state that bans the discharge of fireworks but allows sales.

Downer said she’s in favor of small businesses, but said the booths aren’t entities from within the city.

She added that the fireworks were the “loudest she’d ever heard in Sequim” and sounded like a “war zone.”

She said she feels the public fireworks display is safer during times of drought, and the Sunshine Festival’s drone show is a quieter alternative.

Along with discussing a ban of fireworks sale ordinance, Downer wants to have a discussion about more signage in city parks.

To follow up on future city council agendas, visit sequimwa.gov.