The small Washington town that is a “Mecca” For fireworks
It's like a pilgrimage, thousands upon thousands of Washingtonians invade this small coastal town bringing what seems like an unlimited amount of fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July. When the 4th of July lands on the calendar to create a long weekend, the numbers are even greater.
According to seattletimes.com,
‘hundreds of vehicles clogging Long Beach’s main road access point to the sand, overwhelming traffic flaggers and forcing emergency services to use alternate routes while responding to dune grass fires and injuries from errant fireworks.
Even ardent fireworks proponents, like lifelong resident and local business owner Jeff Harrell, concede that the scene is “managed chaos.”’
That's right, over the decades the city of Long Beach Washington has been a place where people tend to gather for the 4th of July to ignite fireworks. A seemingly unlimited number of fireworks. Imagine the town of 2000 growing to a town of 100,000 for just this one event.
And it seems that some of the residents have grown tired of it.
An organization founded in 2021 called Better Beaches and Byways has been working for several years to ban fireworks in the Long Beach area. The city of Long Beach adopted a policy of “no fireworks to be discharged within the city limits”. But that ban within the city limits does not stop fireworks on the beaches because that requires action from Washington State Parks.
Better Beaches and Byways calls it “Ban the Boom”, but that ban does not include about 62 miles of Coastline South of the Quinault Indian Nation.
The massive overcrowding has made it difficult for first responders, although they are grateful that they're getting fewer calls from inside the city limits of Long Beach. However, anytime there's a holiday and especially a four-day weekend things can get a little crazy. As one first responder puts it, “booze and fireworks do not mix.”
Wenatchee and East Wenatchee both have fireworks bans in place this year, but you're still going to see a few people igniting banned fireworks in their front yards and we can only hope that they don't set their house on fire.
Let's leave the fireworks to the professionals and concentrate on the nonflammable parts of celebrating Independence Day.
July 4 fireworks on WA ocean beaches — should they be banned? | The Seattle Times
Fourth of July 2024 Fireworks Regulations in Long Beach – Surfside Washington News
Seashore Conservation Area | Washington State Parks
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