Clallam and Jefferson county commissioners and county fire marshals are working to find a way to allow bans of fireworks under emergency conditions, but any such measure couldn’t legally go into effect until 2017 at the earliest.
The U.S. Drought Monitor upgraded the Olympic Peninsula from moderate drought to severe drought on June 23, after snowpack in the Olympic Mountains was measured at zero.
Sparse rainfall in May and June has led to tinder-dry conditions. That coupled with higher than normal temperatures has triggered burn bans across the region.
County leaders are seeking a way to also ban fireworks to protect their counties during similar events in the future.
New ordinances could not be in place until after the 2016 Fourth of July celebration, said Clallam County Commissioner Jim McEntire and Jefferson County Commissioner Kathleen Kler, who attended a wildfire briefing at Olympic National Park headquarters in Port Angeles on Tuesday.
Commissioners are not seeking a permanent ban on fireworks, they said.
They only want a way to ban them when fire danger reaches a point that the traditional use of fireworks could spark a major blaze that could cost lives and property, they said.
“We’re looking into it, but with the public process, it would be 2017 before it is in place,” Kler said.
State law restricts what counties can do in regard to fireworks, imposing a one-year waiting period on any ordinance adopted by cities or counties.
“It’s not under the authority of the counties,” McEntire said.
A new ordinance would have to go through the standard public notification and hearing process, be approved by the county commissions, then complete the one-year waiting period before being enforced.
Port Townsend has an existing fireworks ban, and Port Angeles enacted a fireworks ban in March that will go into effect in 2016.
McEntire said it is up to the state Legislature to consider a change statewide to allow for emergency bans as needed for conditions.
Clallam County Fire Marshal Annette Warren said that two counties in Washington state — Douglas and San Juan counties — entered the record-setting dry season with existing code language that allows local fire marshals to restrict fireworks sales when fire danger becomes extreme.
Douglas County, which has since banned fireworks for the 2015 holiday, but San Juan County has not.
Chelan County, where the 3,000 acre Sleepy Hollow Fire has burned since Sunday, was granted an emergency ban on fireworks by Gov. Jay Inslee, Warren said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
