The small, whirling firework flew into the air just as Deputy Vancouver Fire Marshal Cristian Ganea arrived to a cul-de-sac off Northeast 28th Street in the Vancouver’s Image neighborhood.
That small firework, and the paper bag of fireworks Ganea and MetroWatch patrol officer Ryan Wilson seized Sunday night, cost the onlookers $500.
Tuesday will be the first Fourth of July with Vancouver’s personal fireworks ban, and the fire department has been out in force for the past few evenings responding to complaints, cutting tickets and seizing fireworks.
Violating the ordinance carries a $500 citation, and there are no warnings.
Ganea and Wilson, one of the security workers the department contracted with to ride with the marshals, roved around east Vancouver on Sunday night, following crackles, booms and calls from dispatch.
People seem to be aware of the law, which was passed by the city council in October 2015 and went into effect this year, and that seems like some progress, Ganea said.
Many fireworks users seemed to fire off a couple before calling it a night, he said, or before they got caught.
Ganea and Wilson arrived too late for several calls. That night Wilson spotted sparks over Endeavor Elementary, and the two arrived to find several kids hopping a fence to Copper Lane Apartments.
Ganea said he saw multiple backyard setups with lawn chairs arranged for what looked like a coming fireworks show. Even as he was writing a ticket in the Image area, reports still sounded in the distance.
Real progress, for him, is fewer citations, and, more importantly, fewer complaints. Ideally more people will start to patronize larger, permitted fireworks shows, he said.
“Our goal is to not have people discharging fireworks,” he said. “We do not have a goal for citations. My goal is zero citations. That will not help the person I’ll take the money from. It will not help the city.”
In the past several nights, things seemed to pick up around 11:30 p.m., he said.
Wilson and other MetroWatch officers help check on and lock up the parks, where some people have been less clear on the city’s fireworks rules.
“They were actually shooting the mortar tubes at my squad car. Bouncing off my car, detonating underneath. It was like being back in Baghdad,” he said.
Wilson served with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division during the Iraq War “surge.” Some veterans get jumpy with Independence Day fireworks, he said. It’s usually not a problem for him, since he knows it’s that time of year.
“It’s the days leading up to the Fourth, when I kind of forget that the Fourth is coming, when you get that occasional BOOM! Then I want to crawl under my coffee table,” he said.
It’s understandable that a total ban can be frustrating for some residents, after fireworks were allowed for years, Ganea said.
But the private and public costs, in his mind, were becoming too great.
Stretched too thin
He pointed to all the runaway pets, fire damage, people hurt and ancillary costs such as last year, when the fire department was so busy with fire calls during parts of July 4 it told dispatchers it couldn’t help with medical calls.
“We had so many fire calls, on Fourth of July afternoon, we had to tell them, ‘Hey, we don’t have manpower for this,’ ” he said.
As for the rest of Clark County, county Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway said officials have yet to make an exact count of fireworks complaints, fire calls and other fireworks-related responses, but complaint calls seem to be a bit higher, at least in the county south of 219th Street.
“We have had folks out the past few nights and we’ve seen enough calls to keep us busy,” Dunaway said.
Fireworks use is allowed in unincorporated Clark County north of 219th Street, from June 28 through today.
South of that line, fireworks are OK in the county only on the Fourth. That rule has been in place since last year.
“I think we’re seeing more complaints because the people calling in are more in tune with the ‘July Fourth only’ ” rule in the area, Dunaway said.
That’s not necessarily a problem, he said, because the county wants people to voice their complaints so marshals can respond.
To report illegal use of fireworks, call Clark Emergency Regional Services Agency’s nonemergency line at 311 or 360-693-3111. Calls involving a fire or fireworks-related injury should be made to 911.
