All hands on deck

If you’re a Coeur d’Alene police officer, you better not make any personal plans for Fourth of July.

And you’ll have to work, too, if you’re a Kootenai County deputy.

One of the busiest weekends in Coeur d’Alene calls for lots of uniformed officers to keep the peace, watch out for illegal fireworks and impaired drivers, and help folks get out of town after Monday night’s fireworks show.

“Everybody in the department works,” said Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Wendy Carpenter. “And ISP have people up here walking with us in the park, and the sheriff’s department assists as well.”

It’s the same routine every year, with some years more eventful than others, she said.

The fireworks display Monday night draws huge crowds to downtown and Lake Coeur d’Alene, which means without plenty of folks on the ground or in the water, things could get out of hand.

Even with all marine deputies deployed Monday night, the festivities are still a challenge as boats encircle the barge carrying all the fireworks, said Kootenai County Marine Sgt. Matt Street.

“We typically just try to keep the spectator vessels away from the fallout area,” he said. “It’s such a controlled chaos event for us.”

Street said this year’s holiday weekend is a little easier on the marine force because Bayview’s fireworks display over Lake Pend Oreille is Saturday night. That means that on Monday night, the marine patrols have only fireworks shows in Harrison, Hayden Lake and Coeur d’Alene to cover.

When Hayden’s show is over, the marine patrol there will load up their boat and come to Lake Coeur d’Alene to help with the aftermath there. Two boats will be situated after the fireworks on the Spokane River to help keep boaters from running into pilings or the shallows.

“It can be tricky seeing those boat pilings,” Street said. “Prior to us doing that, we’d go down there anyway, because boats would crash.”

Officers from all agencies are keeping an eye out for illegal fireworks. Only “safe and sane” fireworks – the kind that don’t fly in the air and don’t explode – are allowed in the county and city. No fireworks of any kind are allowed on Tubbs Hill or City Park.

As of Friday afternoon, Kootenai Medical Center’s emergency room hadn’t had any injuries resulting from fireworks.

“But it’s early in the holiday,” said KMC emergency room charge nurse Wiggy Doore. “Anytime you combine a holiday that its festivities entail alcohol, pyrotechnics and barbecues, accidents may happen.”

He added that ATV accidents, fireworks mishaps, personal watercraft wrecks and horseback riding accidents are all expected to bring people into the ER over the long holiday weekend.

Kootenai Fire and Rescue District Chief Ron Sampert appealed to the celebrating public to be careful.

“Fireworks are one of the leading causes of burning in children,” he said.

The weather so far has Sampert hopeful that fireworks won’t be causing too much of a wildfire hazard. The weather has been rainy lately, but it may be drying out for the weekend.

“Even though it’s green, if people aren’t careful, it brings on complacency,” he said. “We really want people to be safe with their fireworks and campfires.”