Deer Park May Ban Personal Fireworks Regulating Legal Fireworks Difficult

Thu., Nov. 2, 2000

By Isamu Jordan isamuj@spokesman.com

Deer Park is one of the few remaining towns in the county that still allows personal fireworks on the Fourth of July.

That might change Tuesday if Deer Park citizens vote to ban the sale and use of personal fireworks within the city limits.

The proposition to ban fireworks in Deer Park became a ballot issue because of a number of complaints that filtered to Deer Park City Council concerning the noisy fireworks that were still being set off late at night after Independence Day, said Deer Park Mayor Mike Wolfe.

Presently, Deer Park limits the sale and use of legal fireworks to those deemed “safe and sane,” including such fireworks as fountains, Clucking Chickens, Whistling Petes, carbon snakes and sparklers.

Authorities can’t regulate the sale or use of fireworks on tribal lands.

But bottle rockets, Roman Candles, missiles and firecrackers are illegal in Washington and Kootenai County, Idaho.

That doesn’t stop people from bringing illegal fireworks into Deer Park from surrounding areas where fireworks are illegal, Wolfe said.

“The problem with enforcing the illegal use of fireworks coming off reservations is that until it’s used, you can’t tell the difference between (the legal fireworks and illegal fireworks) unless you take it apart and weigh the powder,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe also said there has been a problem in the past with people setting off personal fireworks in the center of town where the public firework show takes place on the Fourth of July.

“Fireworks were going off in people’s face and landing on people,” Wolfe said.

The use and sale of personal fireworks is still allowed in Medical Lake and Airway Heights.

But if the initiative passes in Deer Park, setting off personal fireworks would be a violation of the city’s noise ordinance, a misdemeanor that comes with a $500 fine.

“I enjoyed (setting off fireworks) when I was growing up. But I was also taught how to use them safely,” Wolfe said.

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