The wages of fireworks are…?

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Islanders fail in a bid to have discharge banned around

animal facilities.

While her neighbors launched a bombastic Fourth of July fireworks display next door, Vicki Kirkman lay sprawled across her stable’s floor with a broken clavicle and a snapped knee.

Two of her horses still fumed nearby, with each firework blast sending the 1,000-pound animals reeling with terror.

“I was trampled by my own horses when I tried to calm them last Fourth of July,” the Manzanita resident said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do this year. I’m terrified knowing the police are unable to protect me, my family or my animals.”

Kirkman joined several other animal owners in calling for an emergency ban on fireworks this year near stables and animal shelters. They say local police are unable to enforce laws banning powerful fireworks on the island.

While a blanket ban proved unpopular in last November’s election, animal advocates believe quiet, firework-free zones within a half mile of stables and shelters could prevent a range of incidents over the last year.

Sly, a blind horse living out his final days at the Furrytale Farm animal shelter on Lovgreen Road, died of a heart attack during fireworks on New Year’s Eve, according to farm executive director Suzannah Sloan.

“He was literally frightened to death by fireworks,” she said. “Was he old? Yes. Was he ill? Yes. Was he ready to die? No. The fireworks ordinance is unenforceable. It is a joke. We lost a beautiful, loving, trusting horse to a joke.”

Parts of the city’s fireworks ordinance aren’t even law, it appears.

While the use of legal fireworks is restricted to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 4, and discharge of illegal fireworks is prohibited, prosecution for “reckless” discharge that results in damage apparently is no longer possible under city code.

The city’s 1984 “reckless discharge” ordinance pertaining to fireworks is null and void because the city failed to give proper notice of the rule change, according to a recent court ruling.

A neighbor of Kirkman was charged under the ordinance while Kirkman recovered in the hospital, but Bainbridge Municipal Court Judge Steve Holman found in a May ruling that the ordinance carries no weight.

“It’s void, it has no effect,” Holman said.

Police Chief Matt Haney says an overlapping state law will serve the same purpose as the invalid ordinance.

“I’m fairly confident state rules will allow us to enforce” reckless discharge prohibitions, he said.

That’s not much comfort for Kirkman.

“There’s a reason people on Bainbridge passed that ordinance,” she said. “It puts (authority) in the hands of our local police rather than the state. It makes people more aware here on the island that this can cause serious harm or death.”

Advocates’ efforts to pass an emergency ban near animal shelters stopped short at City Hall last week.

While some in the City Council expressed support for a limited fireworks prohibition, under state law, any new local restrictions on fireworks would not take effect until next year, according to City Administrator Mary Jo Briggs.

“That just makes me feel rotten,” Sloan said after city officials cited their inability to enact an immediate ban. “What’s wrong with this community and this city that it won’t stand up for what’s right?”

Haney agreed that blanket fireworks bans would be easier to enforce than current rules.

“We’re stretched thin as it is and then we have to go interpret who is shooting off illegal fireworks,” he said. “What would make things easier to enforce is a complete ban, such as the one (proposed) around animal shelters.”

Haney has instructed officers to investigate calls about illegal firework use when officers are not responding to more serious crimes. Mayor Darlene Kordonowy and Haney are looking into adding more on-duty police during Independence Day festivities.

While police and animal lovers may favor a ban, most voters seem to disapprove. An advisory vote on a fireworks ban sank in November, when nearly 60 percent of the county voted against it. Bainbridge also turned the ban down, with only 45 percent supporting it.

The city has pledged to give notice in newspapers about illegal fireworks use, hoping residents will voluntarily comply with the rules.

While many Fourth of July revelers are familiar with possible brush fire and personal injury risks caused by fireworks, Kirkland urges residents to consider other neighborhood impacts.

“I hope people will think about how a house shaking from exploding fireworks affects a new baby from the hospital or a new pet or a sick horse,” she said. “We’re in a small enough place that just about everything we do affects each other.

“We’re in an ever-tightening circle of neighborhoods and we need to be good to each other.”

* * * * *

Fireworks facts

Sale of legal fireworks is allowed on Bainbridge Island from noon to 11 p.m. July 1-4. Discharge is allowed from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 4 only.

Legal fireworks include sparklers, cylindrical fountains, cone fountains, illumination torches, spinning wheels, ground spinners, smoke devices, helicopters and aerial spinners, flitter sparklers, mine/shells, combination items and Roman candles.

Illegal fireworks include skyrockets, bottle rockets, chasers, firecrackers or salutes, cherry bombs, tennis balls, M-80s, M-100’s or larger, and any homemade devices.

Under BIMC 5.36, discharge of illegal fireworks is punishable by a monetary fine of up to $500 or imprisonment of up to 180 days.

Source: City of Bainbridge Island