SEATTLE (AP) - The King County Council has narrowly voted to ban fireworks in unincorporated areas.
The ban, which passed with a 5-4 vote Tuesday, prohibits the retail sale and use of consumer fireworks in the unincorporated parts of the county, KING 5 reported. The ban will go into effect in 2022.
The legislation sponsored by King County councilmembers Joe McDermott and Claudia Balducci will prohibit all fireworks including sparklers and smoke bombs.
McDermott said he introduced the measure after seeing the death and destruction caused by fireworks in a White Center neighborhood in 2019. Two homes were burned, a 70-year-old man died and a dozen residents were displaced by the fire.
Public firework displays will be allowed with a permit from the fire marshal - with a limit of displays to two per year on a property. Penalties of up to $250 for violating the new law will not be given during the first year, during which educating people about the new law will be the priority.
According to South King County Fire & Rescue, more than 77% of county residents already live within city limits that have banned fireworks.
The ordinance also asks that county officials study and recommend how to provide unarmed, non-police enforcement of the law.
Among concerns raised by the council members who voted no was the idea that the ban would criminalize something typically associated with younger people. Council member Rod Dembowski said he worries about potentially increasing interactions between young people and law enforcement.
Councilmember Girmay Zahilay said ensuring there’s a plan to find an alternative way to enforce the law outside of police intervention allowed him to support it.
Hopefully, he said, that creates a system that “doesn’t increase interaction between youth, youth of color, and police.”
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