Fireworks for 4th go on sale*

But the most significant thing that’s different this Fourth of July is the blanket ban on fireworks within the city limits of Vancouver. In October 2015, the Vancouver City Council banned the use and sale of fireworks following a particularly dry and hot summer. This is the first year the ban goes into effect.

Leach said that he expects the ban to be a “split bag” for fireworks stands like his in unincorporated Clark County. He expects some city residents to forgo fireworks, while he expects plenty of Vancouver citizens to purchase them and light them off elsewhere.

Regardless, Heidi Scarpelli, the fire marshal for the city of Vancouver, said there will be “zero tolerance” for discharging them in the city. In addition to fielding complaints and getting dispatches from CRESA, she said, deputy fire marshals and code enforcement officers will be actively patrolling the city looking for signs of fireworks. She said there will be no warnings issued, just $500 citations.

“I won’t reveal our complete game plan, but at times when it’s closer to the Fourth, we will have more and more people patrolling,” she said.

Scarpelli said that her office will respond to incidents around the clock. She recommends that people reporting illegal fireworks call 311 rather than 911. She said that the city has aggressively sought to get the word out about the ban on its social media feeds and has distributed 10,000 fliers.

On the opening day of fireworks sales, Jared Eleson was in Blackjack Fireworks in Hazel Dell loading up a shopping cart with fireworks. For the last 10 years, he said, he’s gone to a gathering with family and friends in Vancouver. The holiday celebration has always included setting off fireworks.

“I respect the law, but I don’t like it,” he said. “It’s another bit of gentrification of Vancouver.”

He said that this year his family will host the gathering at their home in Ridgefield, which does not have a ban.

“We’re hoping we’re going to make good memories this year,” he said.

Frank McKoy, Blackjack’s manager, said that he doesn’t expect the ban to have much effect on sales.

“We’ve been here since 1980,” he said. “My building doesn’t pick up and move. All these tents move around.”

On the other side of unincorporated Clark County, one of those smaller tents had its opening day of sales in the parking lot of a strip mall off of Fourth Plain Boulevard just across the street from the city limits.

Joel Denman said that the proceeds from the tent will go to Askeo International Mat Club, a youth wrestling nonprofit where he volunteers as a coach. He said that Western Fireworks, which is providing the inventory, picked the location. He said he hopes that its location on the border with Vancouver will result in sales.

“With so many changes in the laws and locations we are stepping up to see what we can get,” he said.

To report illegal use of fireworks, phone Clark Emergency Regional Services Agency’s nonemergency line, 311, or 360-693-3111. Calls involving a fire or injury from fireworks should be reported to CRESA’s 911 emergency line.