Personal fireworks of all kinds, including sparklers, will be outlawed in Steilacoom in 2011, putting Washington’s oldest town among the ranks of no-fireworks cities such as Tacoma, Fircrest, Ruston and Federal Way.

The Steilacoom Town Council recently voted 3-2 for the ban, with some members citing noise, fire danger and discomfort to frightened pets.

Steilacoom currently allows personal fireworks only during limited hours on the Fourth of July. Under the new ordinance, possession or use of them will be banned except for certain commercial displays.

The new law sets a $500 fine for anyone caught using fireworks and a $250 fine for possession.

Under state law, it can’t take effect until summer 2011.

Several area cities already have total bans on fireworks. The Puyallup City Council considered a ban following the July 4 holiday this year but took no action.

In Steilacoom, several public meetings were conducted before the council took its vote Nov. 3. People testified on both sides.

Ultimately, council members Milt Davidson, Marion Smith and Bruce Judson voted for the total ban; Connie Aboubakr and Roe Marcantonio voted against it.

“My reasoning was that personal fireworks in the town have gotten really out of hand in the last six or eight years,” Davidson said.

Steilacoom’s population swells from 6,400 residents to thousands each Independence Day as celebrants flood into the 155-year-old town for events capped by a large fireworks display over Puget Sound. Volunteer organizers raise thousands of dollars each year to pay for it.

The event taxes police with crowd control, and visitors might light or launch their own fireworks during the celebration, Smith said.

“Fortunately this past Fourth of July we had no fires,” he said.

A complete ban makes it easier for police to spot and arrest people who have or are using fireworks, Smith said, as opposed to a some-are-legal-some-aren’t stance.

“We decided it had to be all or nothing,” he said.

Aboubakr supported something in between.

“This is a total ban on any fireworks,” she said. “Total. That means if little May Sue is standing in her front yard with a sparkler, her family can get a ticket. I was not wanting such a strict ban on everything.”

The debate over private use of fireworks in Steilacoom is not new, and the town has gradually tightened its restrictions. A range of fireworks previously was allowed over a four-day period. In 2003, the Town Council voted to limit their use from noon to midnight on the Fourth and ban anything “that went boom or into the air,” Smith said.

Council members agree that bans can be difficult to enforce, but they point to surrounding cities such as Tacoma where outlawing them has decreased complaints.

Tacoma police this year reported fewer calls about lawbreakers – about 600 compared to 835 in 2008 – and more tickets written – 44 compared to 25 in 2008.

Steilacoom leaders must decide where to allocate scarce resources on the holiday: crowd control or ferreting out fireworks scofflaws.

Mayor Ron Lucas said he’ll ask the council for guidance on where they want police to focus.

Marcantonio said she believes the lawbreakers “are just a few.”

Smith agreed.

“We probably had 98.5 percent compliance,” Smith said of the previous law. “It’s only that 1.5 percent of people who caused us to do this.”

Kris Sherman: 253-597-8659

kris.sherman@thenewstribune.com