The snap, crackle and pop of fireworks are a fun part of Independence Day celebrations, but people should carefully check the rules for where they live before trying to set off their own pyrotechnics, North Olympic Peninsula fire officials say.
The most important thing, Port Angeles Fire Marshal Ken Debuc said, is to be safe with the fireworks.
“People should be especially careful with giving children fireworks,” Debuc said.
“People should monitor children carefully, even with sparklers.
“People tend to think of sparklers as fairly benign, but they burn at like 1,000 degrees, so they can do a lot of damage,” Dubuc said.
In Clallam and Jefferson counties, fireworks may be legally discharged from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day until Saturday, July 4, when they can be ignited from 9 a.m. to midnight.
On Sunday — the fifth of July — they can be shot off from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Legal fireworks suitable for use in unrestricted areas of Clallam and Jefferson counties include sparklers, flitter sparklers, cone fountains, mine and shell, smoke devices, wheel cakes up to 500 grams, aerial spinners, ground spinners, helicopters, cylindrical fountains, illuminating torches, roman candles and reloadable mortars up to 1 æ inches.
In Forks “safe and sane” fireworks — those that do not fly or explode, including sparklers, wheels, smoke and snake items and strobes — are permitted on July 4, Mayor Nedra Reed said.
Illegal explosive devices include M-80s or larger, cherry bombs and tennis ball bombs, bottle rockets, missile-type rockets, chasers, firecrackers and salutes, other homemade or altered fireworks.
Banned in Port Townsend
Fireworks are permitted in Jefferson County except in national, state and county parks and within the city limit of Port Townsend.
“No pop-its, no sparklers, no fireworks are allowed of any kind inside Port Townsend,” said Police Sgt. Ed Green.
“All fireworks are illegal inside the city.”
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue Chief Chuck Tandy said fireworks are allowed in the rest of the county, but he is reminding people to play it safe.
“The biggest thing to remember is that fireworks don’t always work like you think they might,” Tandy said.
“We’ve had a dry year, and it’s going to be easy to start a fire with the low levels of moisture in the area.
“Also, it’s not just fire you have to worry about. People need to use extreme caution around fireworks.”
Debuc and Green both said that firecrackers purchased on any of the Native America reservations are intended to be used there.
“Those are not legal outside of the area,” Debuc said.
In Port Angeles, fireworks — including sparklers and other small firecrackers — are banned on City Pier, Hollywood Beach and the Waterfront Trail, he said.
A public fireworks show will start at 10 p.m. Saturday and can be viewed from Hollywood Beach and City Pier, among other locations throughout eastern Port Angeles.
In Forks, the public fireworks show at Tillicum Park will start at dusk.
Tandy and Green in Jefferson County both said the safest way to celebrate Independence Day there — and the only way to legally view fireworks in Port Townsend — is to attend the celebration at Fort Worden State Park, which begins at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The professional fireworks display — possibly the final one unless a new funding source is found — begins over Port Townsend Bay at dusk.
No rain in sight
“As the [Port Angeles] fire marshal, I’m always really happy when there is rain the day before, on the day and the day after Independence Day,” Debuc said.
“But this year, it looks like it will be dry and hot, so it will be really dangerous in terms of fires.”
A handful of fires happen every year, Debuc said, and he said injuries usually happen when children and fireworks are involved.
“That is the tragic thing,” he said.
“The kids just aren’t watched carefully.
“Another really dangerous thing is when people try to relight ‘duds.’
“I say just toss [the dud] in a bucket of water. It just isn’t worth those few cents to risk injury.”
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Reporter Erik Hidle contributed to this report.
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
