When David Benedictus first moved to southwest Washington, he loved to go down to Fort Vancouver to watch the Fourth of July fireworks show.
But in recent years he wouldn’t even consider making the trip.
Instead, he spends the holiday anchored to his home in the Truman neighborhood of Clark County, armed with a hose to spray flyby fireworks that land near his property.
At Tuesday’s Clark County Council meeting, Benedictus was one of several residents who complained about fire safety and property damage from fireworks. He said that one of his neighbors found 130 bottle rockets had landed on their house, some had even burned holes through the roof.
Now county councilors are weighing new, tougher fireworks regulations.
“People don’t always use the best judgment,” Benedictus said. “We need to rethink the types of fireworks that we allow.”
The Clark County Council is reviewing its fireworks policy ahead of the Fourth of July holiday but has been considering restrictions for several months.
Several options are on the table, including reducing the number of days fireworks are sold in a year from seven to four. Other changes include moving to what’s called a "safe and sane" approach, which would mean banning large aerial fireworks.
Currently, it's legal to buy and use fireworks in unincorporated Clark County. In recent weeks, as fireworks season approaches, other nearby jurisdictions have taken up the issue of limiting fireworks, including Battle Ground and Camas, Washington. The city of Vancouver passed an outright ban that went into effect for the first time last summer.
Tuesday night’s public hearing lasted nearly two hours and drew people on both sides of the fireworks debate.
Orchards resident Mary Laski said it’s been difficult to deal with the noise and the smell from fireworks smoke.
“I thought about leaving on the Fourth of July, taking my pets and going,” she told the councilors. “But I was afraid I’d come back and find my house burnt down.”
Several fireworks retailers and nonprofits testified that they rely on the entire week of fireworks sales to make a profit.
Mike True, president and CEO of the Historic Trust, says the annual Fourth of July show put on at Fort Vancouver is largely supported through fireworks sales in the county.
“Even cutting back the days of sales on this significantly affects the sustainability for the trust to operate and be able to sustain this event,” said True.
Jeff Fish, with the Hazel Dell Lions Club, says the nonprofit gets 80 percent of its yearly budget from fireworks sales. “If this goes away, it will greatly impact the city, the county, you name it,” he said.
Councilors declined to deliberate after the public hearing and decided to postpone a vote on whether to adopt some or all of the ordinance changes until next week.
Councilor John Blom thanked the public for their input and assured them that the council will consider all testimony before reaching a decision.
“Nothing has been decided yet and nothing is set in stone,” said Blom.
The council will take up the fireworks issue again at their next meeting on Tuesday, June 12, at 10 a.m.