A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
Flathead County’s commissioners banned all fireworks displays, public and private, this morning (resolution PDF; fire restrictions chart PDF). A short time later, Whitefish announced the public display at City Beach was canceled.
The county set up a telephone hotline for non-emergency fireworks complaints (406) 260-4161). But if fireworks start a fire or injure someone, call 911. The county should also set up a web page with a form for lodging complaints, but so far that hasn’t happened.
These are the right decisions. The National Weather Service issued a Fire Weather Watch at 1239 MDT today, forecasting high winds and very low relative humidity for Saturday, 4 July.
But making these decisions took far too long. Last week it was obvious that prolonged stretches of record heat combined with a record, or near record, dry June, had driven the moisture from forest, field, and lawn, resulting in a fire hazard usually not encountered until mid-August.
Yet the commissioners balked at acting then. Commissioner Mitchell didn’t think it was that dry (now he does; bless his capacity to learn). Commissioner Krueger didn’t want to burn down the valley, but he also didn’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, including his own. Translation: they didn’t want to do anything that might anger voters, so they followed public opinion instead of leading it, hoping all the while that Mother Nature would moot the issue with a few wet days.
So, they dithered while people stocked up on pyrotechnics and Whitefish’s fuze men tried to build a launch barge that wouldn’t burn (again).
There’s got to be a better way of making these decisions. This won’t be the last tinder dry June in the Flathead.
There’s also got to be a reckoning on private displays in Flathead County. Getting together for burgers, beer, and skyrockets is wonderful tradition, and one that I’ve practiced. But it’s dangerous. Even when the fire danger is low, the risk of blowing off fingers and taking sparks in eyes is high. People launching aerial bombs from their driveway believe they’re being careful, but the activity itself is inherently risky. In my neighborhood, many a neighbor’s bottle rocket has gone astray, landing in my yard.
As the Flathead grows, many parts of the county have become as densely populated as urban areas. Once Roman candles could be shot over the south pasture, far from the next farmhouse. Now that pasture is a subdivision. What goes up must come down — and down it will come, on someone’s lawn or roof, possibly igniting a fire. My reluctant conclusion is that only private fireworks displays with permits from the fire department should be allowed.