ISLAND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: New group advocates fireworks ban in unincorporated Island County (WNT)
Jessie Stensland reports in the Whidbey News-Times from the Island County Commissioners meeting of Mar. 7, 2023.
It’s months until Independence Day, but a group of Whidbey and Camano island residents have already lit a fuse on a campaign to ban personal fireworks in the unincorporated areas of the county.
The new group, Citizens for Safe and Humane Fireworks, has a website,islandcountyfireworks.com, a Change.org petition with more than 1,200 signatures and a town hall meeting schedule. Three members of the group spoke at a recent Island County commissioners’ meeting.
The video recording of this meeting can be found at this link.
They Said It
Commissioner Melanie Bacon, who represents South and Central Whidbey Island, has been an outspoken supporter of the ban and has shepherded the initiative through the county process. Commissioner Jill Johnson, on the other hand, is equally outspoken in opposition to the proposal. She points out that her Oak Harbor district has many young families and veterans who enjoy fireworks.
“I would encourage greater communication as neighbors before asking for a total ban on something many, many families enjoy and do respectfully,” she said.
Craig Cyr, a Langley council member, is also a member of the no-fireworks bandwagon. During his campaign for office, he identified a ban on fireworks in the city as a top priority. Not long after he took office in 2020, the city council adopted his proposal. Under state law, a fireworks ban doesn’t go into effect until a year after the measure is passed.
Cyr said the ban was definitely successful and the city enjoyed a quiet and incident-free Fourth of July in 2021.
Cyr gathered the statistics from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office that show Island County has a high level of fireworks-related incidents in comparison to other counties. In 2021, 14 fires started by pyrotechnics were reported.
Island County Sheriff Rick Felici, on the other hand, hasn’t said he supports the ban and remains neutral, contrary to what another elected official claimed.
