Fireworks Complaints Up In E Wenatchee, Positive Sign Says Police

Despite the new ban on fireworks use in the City of East Wenatchee, it was a busier year than usual for citizen complaints.

Between midnight on June 30 and 10 a.m. today (July 5), the City responded to a total of 32 calls regarding the illegal discharge of fireworks.

"That's up from the number of calls we've had during the same time frame over the previous two years," says East Wenatchee Police Chief Rick Johnson. "But we're attributing that to the new code and the fact that we did a good job with education related to the new code. So people knew there was a fireworks ban in East Wenatchee and we had more people calling in about it."

By contrast, Johnson says it was actually a less active year for fires connected to fireworks use in the city.

"We had one small brush fire that we think was caused by fireworks in the 800 block of North Baker Avenue. Some shrubs had caught fire but there was no one in the area when our officers arrived on scene. It's still under investigation."

Between last Friday (June 30) and this morning (July 5), the City handed out seven written warnings about illegal fireworks use but did not issue any citations.

Johnson adds there were no complaints or contacts made regarding the sale or distribution of illicit fireworks.