By Alex Brown

The Chronicle

Lewis County has no shortage of options as officials consider restrictions on the sale and use of fireworks in unincorporated areas. But it’s still unclear which direction the county will go to address concerns over the wildfires that have become increasingly prevalent in Western Washington.

Early in July, commissioners began talking about possible limitations on fireworks. Tuesday, civil deputy prosecutor Eric Eisenberg returned to them with a half-dozen options — ranging from keeping the status quo to an outright ban.

“There’s stuff that’s been done differently all over the place,” Eisenberg said. “I have a menu of options I’d like to talk to you about so you can give me some direction about where you might be interested in going.”

Currently, Lewis County operates under the state’s law, which allows for the sale and use of fireworks on set days near the Fourth of July and New Year’s Day holidays. Many counties have further restricted fireworks.

One option for the county, Eisenberg said, would be to cut down on the number of days and hours fireworks are allowed. Another would be to prohibit fireworks when wildfire conditions are dangerous — a determination made by a set of parameters or the county’s fire marshal. Still another would mandate a county permit for all fireworks.

A more restrictive possibility would put in place a county-wide ban, with exceptions for permitted public displays and religious events. Eisenberg added that rules could be written differently for different areas of the county, noting that other counties have specific locations where they allow fireworks.

“You can divide it into regions, as long as the way you divide the county is sensible,” he said.

Further rulemaking could include allowances for things like sparklers but prohibit aerial devices. Conditions could also ensure fireworks stands are a set distance from standing timber or schools, as well as mandating an insurance policy that lists the county as an insured party.

“It’s done very differently in many places,” Eisenberg said.

County leaders raised many questions about the options put forward. Commissioner Gary Stamper noted that enforcement of any restriction may prove difficult, especially in rural East Lewis County.

“Who’s going to enforce it?” he said. “Whenever we put anything in place, it’s going to be relying on the Sheriff’s Department to come around and do these things, and do they have time to come around and do it? … It would be a nightmare to have the Sheriff’s Department driving all over the county and looking at what happened and what time.”

Meanwhile, commissioner Edna Fund noted that the rule would only apply to unincorporated Lewis County. That could create confusion in areas that are near the boundary line of a city.

“Many times it’s hard to know where those fireworks are coming from,” she said. “Who do they call out, who goes out there — Centralia Police Department of the Sheriff’s Office? If we have different rules, that makes it tough.”

Fund did express support for the option of allowing the fire marshal to restrict fireworks at his or her discretion.

“I do like the idea that the fire marshal would say it is too darn dry,” she said. “We can’t afford this in our county. That to me is appealing.”

Another issue, raised by commissioner Bobby Jackson, is that commissioners don’t want to restrict economic activity. While expressing support for efforts to stop wildfires, he asked if there’s a way to do that that doesn’t limit sales.

“I am not in favor of a ban of any kind on the sale of fireworks. I am concerned about fire,” he said. “When it gets this dry, it takes very little to start a massive fire. … (Fireworks) are a fundraiser for some people, and for the tribes it’s their income. I’m not thrilled with the idea of taking away income.”

Fireworks sales on tribal lands operate outside of county rules and would be unaffected by any restrictions. However, Jackson noted that if the county were to limit the ability to light fireworks, many customers might opt not to buy fireworks they can’t legally launch.

“It might be respectful to talk to the tribes about their opinion about that,” Eisenberg said. “They may have already dealt with this in other areas.”

Ultimately, no decision was reached, but Eisenberg said he’d gained enough information about commissioners’ concerns and goals to continue studying the issue. Per state law, local fireworks ordinances do not take effect until a year after they are enacted, meaning any restriction passed this year would not change the rules until after next year’s Fourth of July holiday.