By Marianne Lincoln

It was Tuesday, June 29 and I was opening the County Council Agenda to join the Zoom meeting. There was an announcement of a 15 minute delay in the meeting, so I perused the recently updated agenda. On it was an Emergency Ordinance. That meant this item just hit the Agenda that day. It was a proposed County Wide Emergency Fireworks BAN. I posted it quickly to 5 Facebook community group pages, noting the last minute addition. Questions and comments flew. So I posted the Zoom link, call in phone number and PCTV access information. After several proclamations, the Council went into executive session. That means they were not on public media for 30 minutes. It was 5 p.m. before they took up the issue.

An Emergency Ordinance means the Council put it on at the last minute due to an emergency, but it also meant they had to get a super majority vote of 5 to 2 to pass it. Citing a former Fireworks ban attempt in 2016 that ended in an ordinance stating the County must ban fireworks a year in advance, they failed to get enough votes to do the ban. The point of the one year clause was so non-profits that base a portion of their annual income of fireworks sales would not get left holding an inventory of unsold goods, tying up their budget. Many service clubs have used firework sales over the years to supplement their charity work.

In the end, the Council added additional public service information to their website, reminding people what to do to discharge fireworks safely and with consideration for their neighbors and pets. Fireworks | Pierce County, WA – Official Website (piercecountywa.gov)

That link also tells what cities ban fireworks and what the discharge times are in places that allow them.

LOCATION	TIMES
CITY, COUNTY, & STATE PARKS	FIREWORKS ARE BANNED
BONNEY LAKE	JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT
BUCKLEY	JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT  DECEMBER 31 – JANUARY 1: 9AM – 12:30AM
CARBONADO	JULY 3 – 5: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT
DUPONT	JULY 4: 6PM – 12 MIDNIGHT
EATONVILLE	JULY 3 – 4: 12 NOON – 11PM
EDGEWOOD	JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT
FIFE	JUNE 28: 12 NOON – 11PM  JUNE 29 – JULY 3: 9AM – 11PM  JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT  JULY 5: 9AM – 11PM
FIRCREST	FIREWORKS ARE BANNED
GIG HARBOR	JULY 1 – 3: 9AM – 11PM  JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT
JBLM	FIREWORKS ARE BANNED
LAKEWOOD	JULY 3 – 5: 11AM – 11PM
MILTON	JULY 4: 9AM – 11PM
ORTING	JULY 4: 12:01AM – 11:59PM
PUYALLUP	JULY 4: 9AM – 11PM
ROY	JUNE 28: 12 NOON – 11PM JUNE 29 – JULY 5: 9AM – 11PM
RUSTON	FIREWORKS ARE BANNED
SOUTH PRAIRIE	JUNE 28: 12 NOON – 11PM  JUNE 29 – JULY 3: 9AM – 11PM  JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT  JULY 5: 9AM – 11PM
STEILACOOM	FIREWORKS ARE BANNED
SUMNER	JULY 4: 12 NOON – 12 MIDNIGHT
TACOMA	FIREWORKS ARE BANNED
UNINCORPORATED PIERCE COUNTY	JULY 1 – JULY 3: 10AM – 11PM  JULY 4: 10AM – 12 MIDNIGHT  JULY 5: 10AM – 11PM (ONLY when the 4th falls on a Sunday)
UNIVERSITY PLACE	JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT
WILKESON	JUNE 28: 12 NOON – 11PM  JUNE 29 – JULY 3: 9AM – 11PM  JULY 4: 9AM – 12 MIDNIGHT  JULY 5: 9AM – 11PM

Thank you to all the people who caught on, tuned in to the Council Meeting and spoke up. Many are very concerned about the dry conditions this year, just as our Council had concerns. Keep tracking the agenda, your participation was truly appreciated. Personally, I did not speak because I was so glad to hear all of your voices. I knew the meeting was going to be long, so I emailed my comments to the Council on the agenda items I was concerned about.

Have a wonderful and safe Independence Day!