Bylaw updates fireworks regulations

City of Powell River council adopted a new fireworks bylaw at the October 17 meeting, just in time for Halloween.

Dan Ouellette, director of fire and emergency services, said the previous bylaw needed to be updated because it was old and minor changes were included in the update. “We’ve just essentially tightened up a little bit on when fireworks can be sold and when they can be let off on Halloween night,” he said.

Low-hazard fireworks can be sold from October 24 through to October 31 annually. Fireworks can be discharged on private property between 4 and 11 pm on Halloween, October 31, annually.

There are no permits required for people letting off fireworks on Halloween night, Ouellette explained. “They just have to meet the basic criteria, 18 years of age and those sorts of things.”

The bylaw prohibits the sale of fireworks to anyone under the age of 18 years and prohibits the sale of high-hazard fireworks and firecrackers.

The bylaw has expanded provisions for special use fireworks permits, Ouellette said, allowing people to have different venues, times and places. Those permits are for people who want to have a celebration, festival or theatrical performance. “The intent is to do that on an invite-the-public basis, not necessarily for your backyard,” he said. “That allows people to do different things throughout the year. The previous bylaw was very specific in where and when fireworks could be let off.”

Another change in the bylaw is updating enforcement, Ouellette said. “That was lacking a little bit, not that we have a lot of problems with fireworks,” he said. “Usually people are really quite good, but there have been occasions when people haven’t always done what they’re supposed to do. We really didn’t have the teeth in the previous bylaw to be able to go out and essentially tell them to stop it.”

The bylaw strikes a good balance, Ouellette said, between “allowing people to be a little more open in terms of what they can do with fireworks, the special use side, with protecting the people who are living around those who are having fireworks going off around them.”