In an effort to cut back on illegal fireworks we teamed with the Forest Grove Police Department to hit the streets on July 4th to enforce the city ordinance that prohibits illegal fireworks. For the night we reassigned one of our fire inspectors who otherwise worked a part time schedule during the day. He and a Forest Grove Police Officer traveled the city looking for illegal fireworks and trying to catch those in the act when they were using them.
Starting at 8:00 pm on July 4th and patrolling until 12:30 am on the morning of July 5th they were able to issue four citations for violation of the city code that prohibits possession and use of illegal fireworks. Each of these citation carries with it a fine of $1000, which is obviously significant to those that were caught. In addition to the four citations, they gave warnings to twenty others who were believed to have used illegal fireworks. Fire and Police agencies all over the metro area do this type of patrol every year, but this is the first of it's kind in Forest Grove. Hopefully in the future we can make a bigger dent on the illegal fireworks that are popular all over the city.
Starting at 8:00 pm on July 4th and patrolling until 12:30 am on the morning of July 5th they were able to issue four citations for violation of the city code that prohibits possession and use of illegal fireworks. Each of these citation carries with it a fine of $1000, which is obviously significant to those that were caught. In addition to the four citations, they gave warnings to twenty others who were believed to have used illegal fireworks. Fire and Police agencies all over the metro area do this type of patrol every year, but this is the first of it's kind in Forest Grove. Hopefully in the future we can make a bigger dent on the illegal fireworks that are popular all over the city.
We hired back two additional firefighters for the evening hours on July 4th and assigned them to a Brush Unit. Our Brush units are large pickups that are equipped with special hose and equipment for fighting fires in brush and grass that are otherwise more difficult for a large fire engine to access. These two firefighters spent the evening with a much more friendly approach to fireworks safety. All told they met with 30 groups of people and discussed how to make safety part of their celebration.
Over the long Holiday weekend we only responded to one fireworks caused fire. The small fire was called in in the early morning hours of July 5th and started when fireworks that were already used remained hot enough that they caught the side of a house on fire. Damage was small because it was found in time and controlled by the home owner. Fireworks should always be soaked in water after they are used and left well away from anything that can burn.
With our close proximity to the state of Washington we see quite a bit of illegal in Oregon fireworks in the metro area. Hopefully next year people can weigh the risk of this significant fine when they travel north across the Columbia to try and make their holiday more exciting. Even a small packet of firecrackers can cost you if you are caught with them, so next year let's keep it safe, and keep it legal.
With our close proximity to the state of Washington we see quite a bit of illegal in Oregon fireworks in the metro area. Hopefully next year people can weigh the risk of this significant fine when they travel north across the Columbia to try and make their holiday more exciting. Even a small packet of firecrackers can cost you if you are caught with them, so next year let's keep it safe, and keep it legal.
