County Council fails to pass emergency fireworks ordinance

There were some fireworks during the June 29 meeting of the Pierce County Council on the topic of, well, fireworks.

The result was a failure to pass an emergency ordinance that would have authorized the county fire marshal to temporarily ban the discharge of fireworks in unincorporated Pierce County due to dry conditions related to the recent unprecedented heat wave.

At issue was the council’s ability to enact such a prohibition, given that, under state law, the county first must adopt language in its code a year before imposing a ban on fireworks. “I just do not think it is a — from a legal standpoint — is something this council wants to subject ourselves to,” said Councilmember Dave Morell of passing an emergency ordinance, noting he was sympathetic to the reasoning behind the proposed ban, even with the approach of the July 4 holiday.

More pragmatic considerations informed Councilmember Jani Hitchen’s take on the situation. “The loss of life in our community is too great already due to COVID, and I don’t want to add fire damage, air quality problems and the loss of life,” she said in her support of an emergency ordinance. “I don’t want to attend any funerals. I don’t want our firefighters to be out there doing this work baring extreme heat. So, this is about protecting property and life and making things a little bit safer during this really unprecedented heat wave we’re having right now, unfortunately.”

Council Chair Derek Young pointed out that several local jurisdictions have enacted temporary fireworks bans and questioned the reasoning behind interpreting state law in such a way as to prevent counties, cities and towns from passing such emergency legislation based on circumstances.

“Saying that the Legislature requires us to give a year’s notice to enact an emergency ban assumes that the Legislature is full of people who are stupid,” he said. “And I don’t think the Legislature is stupid.”

Emergency ordinances require a supermajority — that is, five of seven councilmembers in agreement — to pass.

The ordinance failed to pass by a 4-3 vote, with councilmembers Hitchen, Ryan Mello, Marty Campbell and Young voting yes, and Morell, Amy Cruver and Hans Zeiger voting no.