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Jack Knox: Will fireworks-ban idea fizzle or take off?

As those of you who are still waiting for your hearing to come back know, this was a particularly noisy Halloween. The fireworks began at the first hint of dusk, then intensified as darkness set in.
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Municipalities have been gradually restricting the use of fireworks. Their retail sale is banned by every municipality in Greater Victoria, and there are rules about who can ignite them and under what conditions.

As those of you who are still waiting for your hearing to come back know, this was a particularly noisy Halloween.

The fireworks began at the first hint of dusk, then intensified as darkness set in. The din continued until the wee hours almost without pause, the light show shifting from street to street like a game of celestial Whac-A-Mole, as households took turns giving the Greater Victoria skyline the look of Baghdad during Desert Storm. Think of the Somme offensive, only on speed.

To which Esquimalt says: Enough.

Maybe.

An explosion (as it were) of complaints from the public has led two councillors, Meagan Brame and Ken Armour, to ­propose that Esquimalt follow the lead of Vancouver, which this month barred residents from shooting off fireworks altogether. Brame also suggests it would be best if a ban applied regionwide. As it is, only ­Victoria has what is ­effectively a ban on backyard ­pyrotechnics.

OK, maybe councillors will find some sort of alternative to an actual ban when they wade into the issue Dec. 7, says Brame, but they at least need to have a conversation about fireworks, given this year’s level of post-Halloween howling.

Blame COVID. It was as though everyone said: “It’s been a rotten year for the children, they can’t even have Halloween parties, let’s put on a show.” Except for some people, the show went overboard.

“Fireworks were going off at two o’clock in the morning, not only on the night of Halloween but three days before and three days after,” Brame said.

Pet owners were furious. That’s the thing about fireworks: Kids might love them, but dogs and cats hate them. So do birds and wildlife. Ditto for veterinarians, surgeons and the people who have to crawl on their hands and knees in the dark, looking for missing fingers.

Municipalities have, in fact, been gradually restricting the use of fireworks, at least in theory. Their retail sale is now banned by every municipality in Greater Victoria, all of which have an impressive array of rules about who can ignite them and under what conditions.

Victoria’s fireworks-related requirements are so tough that only those staging major events — the HarbourCats, say — can expect to get permission. The city really doesn’t allow ­residents to set off backyard fireworks at all, though the rest of the capital region’s ­municipalities do, with ­conditions.

People in the West Shore — at least, those in Colwood, Langford, View Royal and Highlands — must pass a free online fireworks safety course before applying to their local fire department for a permit. Even then, the fireworks can only be set off between 5 and 10 p.m. on Halloween night. Sooke has similar limits. Metchosin only allows fireworks on Halloween and New Year’s Eve, and only until midnight (it also advises you to keep your horses inside).

Oak Bay requires residents to apply for their fireworks permits at least three weeks in advance. The deadline is Oct. 28 in Saanich, but you have to pass the fire department’s training course first. Fourteen-day-in-advance permits are required in Sidney, North Saanich, Central Saanich and, as far as we know, Lower Saanich and Outer ­wSaanich (you can never have enough Saaniches).

As for Esquimalt, its existing bylaw demands a 30-day lead-in for anyone wanting a permit.

Of course, none of that matters if purchasing fireworks is as simple as driving beyond municipal boundaries, and if there’s little to no enforcement of the rules once you buy them. Note that while those who break Esquimalt’s fireworks bylaw face a fine of at least $200, not a single ticket has been written in the past five years.

No real surprise there. All laws rely less on enforcement than voluntary compliance. Note that rule-abiding Saanich residents secured 91 permits for fireworks and 80 for bonfires this Halloween. But rule-followers are seldom the trouble, are they?

That could prove the undoing of the ban idea. Brame doesn’t see much point in bringing in any bylaw unless there’s a will and a way to enforce it.

Besides, this might turn into a roman candle of a problem anyway — one that flares brightly one year, then fades.

Or maybe this will be the time we look across the ­Rockies and realize that no one else in Canada combines Halloween and fireworks in the same way. (I say this as someone who once blew the hair off the top of his father’s head with a firecracker, which stunned him so much that I almost made it to the street before he caught me. Almost.)

Small children, darkness, fire, alcohol and explosive devices — what could possibly go wrong?

jknox@timescolonist.com