Fireworks a blast for some, a headache for others

As the South Sound gears up for its annual July 4 boomfest, emergency responders, law enforcement agencies and animal shelters are preparing for inevitable consequences: brush fires, angry neighbors, stray dogs and spooked horses.

“The busiest week of the year,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. “It’s really rough when you get an extra 600 fireworks calls on top of being busier than normal anyways. Usually something major happens over that weekend.”

At the Tacoma-Pierce County Humane Society last week, deputy director Monica Wylie pored over five years of intake statistics, knowing the numbers are about to hit an annual spike. The biggest day for stray animals frightened by fireworks tends to be July 5.

“Cats, it pretty much doubles,” she said. “The dogs go up almost three times. I think people don’t necessarily realize the reactions animals have. They don’t just get scared. They just run. If your dog normally stays by your side, keep it on a leash. Once they get traumatized, they just run.”

Concerned neighbors often rescue the strays and bring them in, Wylie said. If pets are spayed, neutered and licensed, owners can bail them out for as little as $22 — the cost of a mandatory vaccination booster plus a day’s board. The costs go up for animals without licenses. Two trips to the shelter for an unaltered dog will lead to mandatory neutering.

FORECAST: BAD AIR

The weather forecast for the holiday weekend predicts temperatures around 70, with possible rain and little wind. That means another consequence: bad air, created by a vast plume of fireworks smoke from every cul-de-sac and sidewalk fireworks display.

“If the wind isn’t blowing and it’s very calm, the smoke is gonna stay there,” said Joanne Todd, communications manager for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “It’s as if everyone had their wood stoves burning at once and there was no wind.”

The annual rise in air particulates typically peaks the night of July 4, Todd said. The elderly, young children and people with respiratory ailments have the hardest time.

“People are very fond of their fireworks — I get that,” Todd said. “(But) there is an air quality factor in all this that we would advise people to be aware of. The key for people is really to use some common sense and be aware that it does bother a lot of people in a lot of different ways. There are great fireworks shows that communities put on. That’s how I like to do it.”

POLICE: REFEREEING DISPUTES

During the city of Tacoma’s special emphasis patrols over the 2015 holiday week, dispatchers received 583 fireworks-related calls and wrote 17 tickets, compared with 541 calls and 12 tickets in 2014, and 567 calls and eight tickets in 2013.

Puyallup police responded to 40 fireworks-related calls in 2014 and 72 in 2015, said Capt. Ryan Portmann. Officers will conduct emphasis patrols over the weekend in partnership with Central Pierce Fire & Rescue.

The patrols aim at education more than enforcement, Portmann said, but officers responding to complaints inevitably find themselves refereeing neighborhood disputes and trying to strike a balance.

“Sometimes it’s just crazy,” he said. “You have neighborhood hounds who just call and and call and call for fireworks stuff. This is one of those things that can be divisive for the community. It’s very contentious for a lot of the cities. You have a particular group of citizens who don’t want fireworks to be lit, and you have the other side, the citizenry that thinks it’s their right. You want to allow people to have fun, but you’re also trying to respect the feelings and opinions of others.”

HOT SPOTS IN THE ’BURBS

In unincorporated Pierce County, the hottest spots for fireworks complaints cluster in the Spanaway-Parkland-Midland area: Over the past three years, those suburbs generated an average of 103 fireworks complaints between mid-June and July 10, according to Sheriff’s Department statistics.

“It’s just more dense, peoplewise,” said Troyer. “Pierce County isn’t a sleepy little rural town anymore. It’s urban all the way out past the Mountain Highway. This isn’t unique to us. Every jurisdiction’s gonna have their own numbers. We also have (fireworks) landing on roofs. We have house fires, and we have injuries.”

Some complaints center on areas where neighbors compete to throw the biggest parties, with the biggest displays and explosions. Those events tend to generate multiple 911 calls; deputies have been known to make surprise visits and write buzz-killing criminal citations when the festivities get out of hand.

“That could happen again this year,” Troyer said.

The Parkland-Spanaway area is home to plenty of horse properties, as well as the Tacoma Equine Hospital. Dr. Ashley Galen said most horse owners take special precautions for the holiday, but no plan is perfect. Horses can bolt and injure themselves, or stop eating and drinking, risking colic.

When multiple neighbors own horses, the problem lessens, she said. Living next to someone with a taste for blowing stuff up is a bigger problem. Galen advises owners to set routines, before the holiday if possible: a quiet environment, perhaps a radio in the stalls and bright lights to offset sudden flashes in the sky.

“Horses are prey animals,” she said. “They’re not out hunting for meat. They’re just grazing. Their anatomy, their mindset, everything is based on survival. If they hear a loud noise, they’re not gonna fight. They’re gonna flight.”

This story was originally published July 2, 2016 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Fireworks a blast for some, a headache for others."