Burnaby firefighters are hoping the city will consider a change in the way licences are issued for fireworks vendors.
In a report to the city’s public safety committee, fire Chief Doug McDonald recommends the city look into only allowing established Burnaby businesses, who already have valid business licences, to sell fireworks.
“This would eliminate vendors who come in once per year, rent space, sell fireworks and then leave within a week of Halloween,” McDonald said in the report.
Despite efforts by the fire department to control fireworks use in the city, they are limited to enforcing or regulating use through the business licence process and building code compliance, according to the chief.
“In many cases, a fireworks vendor will temporarily rent space and set up shop in contravention of current zoning requirements, which cause much extra work for fire and city staff,” he said.
The challenge with these temporary shops, according to McDonald, is that once Halloween is over, they disappear, which leaves limited time to take action against the shops.
“By the time the violations are reported and investigated, the business is usually closed and there is no way to enforce compliance,” he added.
McDonald believes the next step would be to bring the issue before city council. He does not believe an outright ban of fireworks in the city would do much to reduce the number of complaints the city, RCMP and fire department receive each year, especially when neighbouring cities, including Vancouver, still allow the sale of fireworks.
“Some municipalities have adopted complete fireworks bans, but since residents can obtain fireworks in other jurisdictions, they must still contend with fireworks-related problems, including fire instigation and noise complaints,” he said in the report.
An outright ban would only be successful if the entire Lower Mainland was on board, an idea that was proposed to the Union of B.C. Municipalities in 2005 but not accepted, McDonald noted.
The city’s public safety committee was set to discuss the fire chief’s report at its meeting on Thursday, after NOW deadlines.
