Alaska News

Assembly reconsiders city fireworks law

On New Year's Eve last year, the first time Anchorage residents were legally allowed to set off personal fireworks, people across the city lit up the skies over their neighborhoods.

Many people were mad about the noise that night -- some of those with terrified pets, for example. Others loved the community-wide celebration.

The fireworks were permitted under a two-year city law that expires after this year's New Year's Eve. But some Anchorage Assembly members are now considering new restrictions for this year's blast.

East Anchorage Assemblyman Paul Honeman said he especially got complaints last year from mobile home park residents.

Some mobile homes are lightly insulated and placed close together, he said. Fireworks may sound like a "grenade concussion going off," said Honeman, who is running for mayor.

Honeman's Assembly public safety committee is discussing a ban on fireworks in mobile home parks.

Assembly chairwoman Debbie Ossiander said she'd like to prohibit fireworks in any locations that are dense residential areas.

ADVERTISEMENT

Assemblyman Dick Traini, who sponsored the law permitting personal fireworks on New Year's Eve, said he's not sure whether he'll support keeping fireworks out of trailer parks. He wants to make sure it would be a public safety decision, and not discrimination against those who live in mobile homes.

Other ideas are popping up, too. At a meeting Wednesday of Honeman's public safety committee, Bob Lester -- the Bob on "The Bob and Mark Show" on KWHL-FM -- suggested the city designate some safe areas where people could come together and shoot off fireworks.

In an interview, Lester called them "fireworks fun zones."

Hot chocolate, live music. "Make it more of a community-wide event," Lester said. He thinks people should still be able to set them off in neighborhoods, too.

Lester also proposed that people be allowed to buy fireworks in Anchorage, rather than having to drive to a stand in Houston in the Mat-Su, the only place in the region where it's legal to sell them. Some of the profits could be used for good works, like buying cameras for police cars, he said.

"Makes sense" to sell them here, said Traini. "It'll save everybody a 50-mile drive."

Meanwhile, Police Chief Mark Mew points out a discrepancy in Anchorage's fireworks laws: It hadn't been legal to possess personal fireworks in Anchorage until the Assembly voted to allow people to set them off on New Year's Eve.

Now, if police catch someone with fireworks on the 3rd of July -- when it's illegal to shoot them off, and fire danger is higher -- people can say the fireworks are for New Year's Eve, said Mew.

The police chief is proposing to make it legal to possess fireworks only for a brief period in December and early January, such as Dec. 15 to Jan. 3.

Honeman said he'll try to get any fireworks law amendments to the Assembly by late this month or early next.

While some Assembly members are focused on restrictions, Traini, the main backer of the law, says he's hoping to make New Year's Eve fireworks legal in future years as well.

"Heaven's yes. We'll prove it's not the end of the world," he said.

Reach Rosemary Shinohara at rshinohara@adn.com or 257-4340.

By ROSEMARY SHINOHARA

Anchorage Daily News

ADVERTISEMENT