The City of Roseburg is considering whether to ban legal fireworks. However, Roseburg city councilors are asking staff to conduct more research before drafting an ordinance.
Roseburg Fire Chief Tyler Christopherson presented a risk assessment of legal fireworks to the city council on Monday.
He said legal fireworks like sprinklers and fountain fireworks can often cause larger fires. He added that this year alone, legal fireworks caused four fires in Roseburg on the Fourth of July.
“We’re not going to eliminate the risk. It’s going to be there,” said Christopherson during the meeting. “People are still going to use the fireworks throughout the city. The point is try to limit the risk as much as possible, even if it's a small amount.”
However, Roseburg city councilors raised concerns about how a ban on legal fireworks wouldn’t deter people from buying them in nearby towns or using illegal fireworks.
City Councilor Andrea Zielinski said a ban on legal fireworks would punish people who are practicing safe firework use.
“I don’t want fires and I wish there was a way to do something that holds people accountable but doesn’t take the fun away from people who are doing this in a safe and sane manner,” said Zielinski.
City Councilor Jason Tate added that he wasn’t ready to make a decision because there were not enough facts or data points he could refer to.
“I would like more information. I mean, this is the first time I saw it pop up,” said Tate. “So I would still like some data from different cities, what they're doing, what their stats look like before and after.”
The councilors voted to see more statistics from cities that passed the ban.
Several Oregon cities have banned all or most consumer fireworks, including Eugene, Portland and Newport. The state of Oregon bans the sale or use of any fireworks that fly into the air, except by licensed pyrotechnic companies.
