Firefighters concerned about fireworks in dry conditions this 4th of July

LYNNWOOD, Wash. - Fireworks sales start Tuesday across Western Washington, but firefighters are asking you to think about your home and your neighbor’s before you buy.

High demand coupled with the dry conditions this year have firefighters gearing up.

”We are going to have an increase in call loads, more injuries, more structure fires,” Snohomish County fire district board chair Jim McGaughuy said Monday.

Cities like Lynnwood, Everett and Mill Creek already have bans on fireworks, but Mark Miller lives in unincorporated Snohomish County where it is still legal to blast off fireworks.

“A little ember could take the whole house,” Miller said.

Two neighbors close to the Miller's lost their homes because of someone else lighting off fireworks, including a house belonging to an elderly couple.

“He almost died in that fire," Miller said. "He grabbed his wife and crashed the garage door to get out."

Snohomish County Fire District 1 is lobbying leaders to impose an all-out ban across the county.

“Alcohol and fireworks don’t mix,” McGaughuy said.

But change, if there is any, won’t come in time for this year's Independence Day.

“We are concerned about this year based on the last two years of extreme conditions,” McGaughuy said.

Firefighters are asking people to enjoy the Fourth this year, without personally playing with fireworks even in areas where there no bans.

Nonetheless, fireworks sellers think they'll do a brisk business.

“Definitely, the demand is there,” Zero Delay Pyrotechnics owner Alan Shannon said.

For a list of fireworks bans and restrictions visit: http://www.wsp.wa.gov/fire/docs/fireworks/ordinances.pdf