EDITORIAL: It's time to snuff illegal fireworks

Enforcement must step in when diplomacy fails.

North Idaho, that’s the unfortunate doorstep we find ourselves standing upon when it comes to illegal fireworks.

For many years now, respectful citizens have asked — nicely in most cases — for Fourth of July revelers to show a little consideration for neighbors in expressing their freedom-loving exhilaration. The response has lit the skies like a large, loud middle finger.

It’s not just a 7/4 phenomenon, either. In many places, the earth-shattering noise starts days, even weeks, before the Fourth. And lasts well past the Fifth of July hangovers and debris-cleaning.

Part of the problem is the easy availability of fireworks just miles from Coeur d’Alene, explosives and aerial eruptions that vastly exceed what’s legal here. But the cities and county have no authority to regulate those sales, which leaves only one alternative: enforcing the laws that are on their books and cracking down on people breaking those laws.

Diplomacy has failed spectacularly. Pleas on behalf of the very people who preserved our freedom — members of the military who struggle mightily with explosions in their midst — have been ignored. 

Pet owners, likely a majority of Kootenai County residents, have likewise been rebuffed in their attempts to convince firework fanatics of the harm they’re causing innocent animals.

Even in average, everyday households, families are fed up with the ongoing illegal celebrations of freedom that directly infringe upon their own freedom to enjoy a little peace and quiet before and after the holiday. 

As our population ages, the nights-long assaults hurt more and more.

So how do we finally bypass the broken bridge of diplomacy and move to consistent enforcement? Start with something realistic: Expect that the night of July 4 each year will be one in which some people will want to escape to quieter quarters, but put a strict deadline on the truly loud stuff — say, 11 p.m.

After 11, police and sheriff’s office personnel should be poised to write tickets left, right and center. Rigorous enforcement should be a law enforcement priority during the days and nights before and after the holiday. And those tickets should bite hard.

Residents need to address their city councils and the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners and call for strict penalties and enforcement for illegal fireworks not just because of the considerations cited above, but because of the potential for disastrous fires leading to loss of property and life. 

These elected officials have no greater responsibility than to protect the health and safety of their constituents, and this is indeed a health and safety issue.

There are 11 months to work out the details. Even though the entire area looks, feels and smells like a war zone around July Fourth, peace can prevail by looking the other way for almost the entire holiday but enforcing the law the rest of the time. 

And if that isn’t good enough for the pyro proliferators? Then maybe repeat offenders should get a lesson in freedom and listen to the celebrations from jail cells.