Fireworks are banned in the City of Spokane

This July marks the sixteenth year of a complete fireworks ban in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Liberty Lake and the unincorporated parts of Spokane County. Spokane Fire Department personnel appreciate the dramatic reduction in fires and injuries that were traditionally associated with Independence Day celebrations in our community. With the ban, fireworks-related fires in the City of Spokane dropped from 1,044 in the ten years prior to the ban to just 46 in the ten years after the ban. In a similar manner, fireworks-caused injuries dropped from 290 to 37.

Common fireworks are NOT “Safe-and-Sane”! There are still about 10,000 fireworks-related injuries requiring emergency room care or hospitalization each year in the U.S. during the July 4th period. Most fireworks injuries involve devices that are legal under current federal law. The majority of those injured by fireworks are children under age 15. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Inland Optometric Association have also recommended the banning of fireworks for individual use.

Individual fireworks are NOT cheap entertainment! Millions of dollars in direct property damage is caused each year in less than a 2-week period as Americans celebrated their July 4th Independence. The Colville Tribe lost over $15 million in timber on July 4, 2003 after someone lit a bottle rocket from their boat on Lake Roosevelt. In 2006, there was about $6 million in damage to schools in Washington State that was caused by fireworks. Spokane Fire Department encourages the community to celebrate the Fourth of July by watching the public fireworks display in Riverfront Park rather than by using any type of personal firework device.

Spokane Fire Department works with the Park and Police Departments to help assure safety during the public fireworks display at Riverfront Park. The Fire Prevention Bureau assists the pyrotechnical company in securing the launch area and assuring that mortars are no more than 4 inches in diameter. The display takes two days to install. Just prior to the show, fire engines soak trees and buildings on the perimeter of the launch site. Ped Med teams are deployed for the July 4th Riverfront Park Fireworks show and they are supported by ambulance units from AMR.

For additional information on the negative impact of individual fireworks across the United States, please contact the National Fire Protection Association at http://www.nfpa.org/ or our public education desk at jdoherty@spokanefire.org