State fire officials are urging Oregonians to exercise caution with fireworks ahead of a hot, dry Fourth of July weekend, but they’re not issuing new statewide restrictions on their sale or use to prevent wildfires.
Late last week, the National Weather Service had issued red flag warnings in parts of eight Western states, including California and Idaho, meaning that conditions exist, or soon will, for extreme fire behavior. But by Wednesday, the weather service had limited warnings to parts of Colorado and Utah after rains and cooler temperatures moved through the Northwest and northern California.
Heath Hockenberry, who manages the agency’s Fire Weather Program out of Boise, called the weather a “respite that’s going away fast, and we’ll be right back in the heat,” over Independence Day. He added that parts of the intermountain West could be back in red flag territory in the next few days.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek in mid-June declared a state of emergency over the threat of wildfire in the state, and more than half of counties are in drought emergencies. But Kotek did not go as far as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who in late June ordered a statewide fireworks ban through July 5. Spokespersons for Kotek did not did not respond to questions about her authority to issue a similar ban.
In Oregon, the sale of fireworks is allowed from June 23 to July 6, when tents and booths selling sparklers and roman candles pop up in grocery store parking lots and along roadsides. Besides a fireworks ban on public lands in the state, most regulations on their use are the responsibility of local governments, some of which also ban local sales. Fireworks that are launched, explode or take on unpredictable behavior are illegal unless used by licensed operators.
“With large amounts of dry vegetation across the state, it is important to note that fireworks remain one of the leading human-caused sources of wildfires,” Erin Zysett, a spokesperson for the state’s Office of Emergency Management, said in an email. “Members of the public should consider skipping personal fireworks and instead enjoy professional community displays.”
In 2017, a teen who threw fireworks into the Eagle Creek Canyon in the Columbia River Gorge caused a wildfire that burned 50,000 acres. He’s paying a fine of nearly $37 million.
Attempts by Oregon lawmakers in the years since then to ban the sale of fireworks or restrict their use have not gone far, according to state Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Tigard, a firefighter. She said there has not been political will among her colleagues to advance proposals to more heavily regulate fireworks in Oregon, and that she’s even heard opposition from firefighters who see the “freedom” to buy and use fireworks as something that should be untouched by regulators.
Grayber, who typically works the very busy days either leading up to or right after the Fourth for the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, said she’s taking the weekend off for the first time in about eight years.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office, the lead agency for firework safety and first response to fires when local firefighting capacity is exceeded, is “ready to go 365 days of the year,” spokesperson John Hendricks said.
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