Fireworks retailer, fundraising church dismayed by Bend’s plan to keep fireworks ban
(Update: adding video, comments by retailer, Bend nonprofit)
Professional, public displays would still be allowed
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Bend city councilors have decided they want to make permanent a temporary ban on public fireworks sales and use, but a fireworks supplier said Thursday that's the wrong way to address wildfire dangers.
Jason Trout, the regional manager for TNT Fireworks, said a ban on fireworks also could severely hurt several nonprofits that rely on fireworks sales as a fundraiser.
“Banning fireworks would put the five nonprofit organizations that we work with at a severe disadvantage,” Trout said. "They can't make the same amount of money through a bake sale."
Trout also said banning fireworks as a whole is not the right way to protect the city from wildfires. His solution would put the decision in the hands of the Bend Fire Department to impose a temporary ban, depending on drought conditions in the Central Oregon area.
Mark Gering of Faith Christian Center in Bend told NewsChannel 21 Thursday his church can make up $20,000 fundraising through fireworks sales each summer.
"The church has been selling fireworks for about 20 years," Gering said. "It's our biggest fundraiser of the year."
That $20,000 goes to the church's after-school programs and donations to other nonprofits. Without fireworks fundraising, Gering said the church may have to cut back on some of its programs.
“We may have to trim our budget," Gering said. "I don’t know -- we’ll see.”
The city enacted its first such broad fireworks ban over a month ago, as the Fourth of July approached with record-setting heat and very dry conditions. Officials said there were far fewer fires and complaints as a result, though a countywide email address did get 300 emails reporting issues with fireworks.
The emergency order was due to lapse five days after the Fourth, but councilors the city extended it to extend it to August 29th both due to the continued fire danger and to consider future steps.
Trout said a permanent ban would not stop people from selling fireworks.
“You would start seeing firework tents pop-up right outside the city limits.”
Casey Hess, an intern working with City Attorney Mary Winters, researched what other communities in Oregon and Washington have done, and presented her findings to city councilors Wednesday night.
State law only allows the sale of legal fireworks (that don’t shoot into the sky) June 23-July 6, leading to the tents that line highways around the state, as nonprofits sell those fireworks to raise funds for camps or other purposes.
Hess noted that Medford, for example, identified some fire-prone areas of the city where they can't be sold or used. Other communities have left the fireworks decision up to a fire chief or fire marshal. Along with allowing professional displays (like the one on Pilot Butte), some communities have allowed them for a religious display, presumably to avoid First Amendment issues.
The city of Sisters has banned fireworks retail sale or public use for decades, since 1947, while Ashland did so more recently.
When Councilor Barb Campbell asked how local officials evaluate the risk Fire Chief Todd Riley said the local conditions, geography and climate play a role in setting the fire danger visible on signs outside the fire stations.
Police Chief Mike Krantz said this year there were significantly fewer calls to 911 about illegal fireworks, along with the email system for use in situations that are not an immediate danger. On the Fourth, there were only two fireworks calls to 911 and two to the non-emergency number. There were a few more around July 9-10, when the initial ban was due to lapse.
Krantz said he wanted to be sure councilors understand that “if fireworks are banned, there isn’t a giant expectation of enforcement,” as agencies triage calls for service, especially around the busy Fourth. Krantz noted that most calls related to “fireworks in the sky” and not that a specific neighbor was seen lighting them.
The fireworks email account, he said, was “purely a data collection account,” in case an investigation is needed later.
Councilor Melanie Kebler said she favors a permanent ban, much like Sisters and Ashland, and Campbell said she agreed, that a ban based on criteria that could be reached at any time would cause its own issues. “I can’t imagine how the vendors and fundraising could possibly work, when we might ban just a couple days before the Fourth.”
Rita Schenkelberg brought up another often-discussed issue: the booming impact on the mental health of many people and pets.
“I just think we need to protect our city and the people who live here,” she said.
Councilor Megan Perkins said she, too, agreed, but colleague Anthony Broadman said, “I haven’t totally made up my mind.” He said he wanted to talk with the fire chief about safety issues.
Mayor Sally Russell said, “I certainly support an outright ban. The safety of our community is paramount. It’s really hard to predict ahead of time how the weather is going to be … We know that they’re dangerous and that things are drier in our world.”
Winters said another work session will be held to look at specific proposed code language. In the meantime, City Manager Eric King said he’ll return next month with an extension of the current ban and emergency order, probably to Dec. 1, giving councilors time to review and enact such a ban.
Councilors no doubt will get plenty of public feedback when a proposed permanent fireworks ban comes up for discussion in coming months. But during a visitors’ section dominated by some returning sharp critics of the city’s recent clearing of the Emerson Avenue homeless camp and the subsequent deaths of two Hunnell Road residents, the fireworks issue came up as well.
Trout argued that the fireworks legal in Oregon haven’t caused “one fire. Our fireworks are extremely safe. Our nonprofits are suffering. They can’t get the funds to send their kids to camp.”
Trout told councilors, “None of you reached out for what the problems are, and what the solutions could be. The real problem is enforcement of illegal fireworks in the city of Bend.”
