PD Editorial: Fireworks aren’t worth the risk

What's it going to take to convince leaders in four Sonoma County communities to finally ban fireworks? Does a house need to burn down, injuring firefighters? That's what it took in Santa Rosa more than a decade ago. Maybe a whole subdivision in flames or even thousands of acres? In sun-parched California summer, those are real risks.

Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Cloverdale and Sebastopol are the holdouts. Every other city and unincorporated part of Sonoma County banned fireworks years ago.

The Rohnert Park City Council this week took a tiny, timid step toward safety. Council members voted unanimously on Tuesday to reduce the number of days fireworks deemed “safe and sane” could be set off by residents from five to three in the run-up to Independence Day. They also authorized law enforcement to cite property owners and renters who knowingly allow unsanctioned fireworks, as if that threat has ever worked anywhere.

We get it. There's a thrill with setting off fireworks - the blaze of light, the bang, the sparkles and the smoke. There's history, too. Fireworks have been part of celebrating our nation's independence from the beginning. And there's money to be made by nonprofits that sell the fireworks and do good works in the community.

But there's danger, and that can't be ignored. It's one thing for professional fireworks companies to put on large shows on Independence Day. Those community events should continue. The teams know what they are doing and have fire-suppression resources on hand if something goes awry.

Amateurs are another story. Even the most well-intentioned can slip up. A sparkler tossed aside too casually by a child who doesn't know that it remains dangerous after the sparkles stop can start a fire. A spinner or smoke bomb dropped negligently can do the same.

There are injuries, too. Every day during the month around the Fourth of July, 280 people on average wind up in the emergency room with a fireworks-related injury nationwide according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

California isn't in a drought right now, but by July the state will likely be dried out and primed for wildfires. Anyone who believes that “safe and sane” fireworks actually are safe and sane need only look north to Oregon. There, two years ago, it took only one irresponsible teenager with a smoke bomb to spark a blaze that devastated the Columbia River Gorge.

It's no coincidence that Rohnert Park sees a spike in public safety calls every year on the Fourth of July. The city schedules 33% more staffing at fire stations and has an extra fire engine on call to deal with fireworks incidents. It is the busiest day of the year for public safety dispatches.

This isn't just a problem for the four holdouts, either. There's no guarantee that fireworks will remain in the town in which they are purchased. Fireworks booths attract shoppers from other parts of the county. Banning sales countywide would make it more inconvenient for people who flaunt the law to get their fix.

The Rohnert Park mayor and City Council members called this a “compromise” before their votes. The only thing they compromised was public safety. Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Cloverdale and Sebastopol should ban fireworks before someone else is hurt or loses a home.

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