Guest column: Who benefits? The underbelly of the 4th of July on the Peninsula

Published 10:10 am Monday, June 13, 2022

Fireworks seem beautiful. Most of us have loved them, enjoyed them. Yet what happens here on the Peninsula is not a family celebration or a picnic. It is now a place that seems like a scene out of an apocalyptic movie. An event that encourages the worst behavior and becomes a festival of disrespect, degradation, and mayhem. It is dangerous. And it is an issue that has broken a community apart.

Many of us spent the last Fourth not with family but watering down our houses and yards, medicating our pets or ourselves for what stress was about to befall us. We spent time being terrified as our windows and house shook from explosions. Like Stockholm syndrome, enabling those who make us suffer, we picked up the trash and fell into grief over the destruction to the beach and ocean we love.

Pull Quote

Many of us spent the last Fourth not with family but watering down our houses and yards, medicating our pets or ourselves for what stress was about to befall us.

Who benefits from this Wild West rowdy mayhem?

Who benefits from the plastics and toxins in fireworks that wash into an ocean that is already struggling, the health danger of human feces left on the beach for others to pick up, and the specter of fire that terrifies residents who could lose everything including their lives?

Who benefits from trauma to those with PTSD, our pets, and wild birds that can die from noise or injury?

A deeper look into the Fourth of July shows it is not what it used to be.

For almost a year now the Pacific County Commissioners and the City of Long Beach have been given extensive research about the harm that is being done to this place and its residents, including nature.

Since Better Beaches and Byways started this work, the horror stories from resident’s have flooded in.

Danger

Fire danger is extreme and a serious concern. Six small towns on the West Coast burned down last year and the alarm bell rung by 150 scientists who begged that fireworks be cancelled last year.

Decision-makers response? “We’ve had no fires here.”

Last year after the Fourth, on July 29, a wildfire broke out on Hwy 101 and headed towards Ilwaco. Had the winds been up it could easily have spread across the peninsula.

A couple described being caught in a wildfire in California that surrounded their community. She couldn’t get out and he couldn’t get in to help. They realize now living here, a fire caused by fireworks could have them reliving that trauma. With only one road out a full evacuation would be impossible.

The response? “We’ve had no catastrophes here.”

Why must we wait for a catastrophe for the right decision to be made?

Trauma

A resident, a veteran who suffers from PTSD, testified at a commissioners meeting how the the military grade fireworks explosions are traumatic. He felt service was not being honored nor was regard for his welfare.

If you have a pet, you know what the noise from fireworks does to them too. A business owner who cares for dogs testified about severe anxiety. Nine dogs died last year. For anyone who has loved an animal, this is heart-breaking.

The response: Silence

To Commissioners and City Council, how is this all okay?

Protection

In 2016, The Seattle Times wrote, ‘”Long Beach Peninsula says. ‘Come again but behave.” Safety and enforcement were promised.

“We can’t enforce it” is the mantra of decision-makers in their refusal of a ban. This year’s solution? A flyer asking folks to behave themselves. How has that worked out so far?

A ban that keeps residents safe and ends suffering is better than “working on it” while lawlessness and danger continue.

Kay Chabot, a resident for 80 years, speaking to City Council summed it up best:

“This is a hostile environment for us to live in and it isn’t fair to residents who vote for you; … In your campaigns you said you were committed to protect residents. Now keep your word and ban fireworks.”

Urgent deadline

We are still waiting. More time is dangerous. June 28 is the deadline for a ban or we suffer until at least 2024.

Please stand up and be heard!

Simply write three words to decision makers, “I Want A Ban Now!”

Better Beaches and Byways can be contacted at betterbeachesandbyways@gmail.com. This column was coordinated by Kathleen Davies, a member of the Steering Committee and Action Team.