I am writing this in response to the three council members – Bill Allison, Noel Gerken and Erin Weaver – that voted to allow people to continue to light fireworks in this city.  They cited as one reason that it teaches our children to be responsible with fire safety.  Maybe these three adults would like to take the kids to the Seattle area where 12 homes were destroyed by fireworks.

Kids can learn fire safety in much better ways than watching fireworks. Other people were concerned about taking money away from charitable organizations that make money from the sale of these fireworks. Why don’t they ask the homeowners if the loss of their homes was worth it?  Do people not know that fireworks not only can start fires but that these fires can take the lives of parents, children, pets and even our firemen?  Is this loss worth the money that these charities might make? Do people not also realize that fireworks like most things is not the same as it used to be. Most of us grew up with caps, sparklers and yes, our dads would shoot off some of the pretty ones, but most of them did not even come close to having the potential to do the damage that the current fireworks have. Not to mention the illegal ones that are bought off the reservations.  Why are the police not parking right outside those entrances and confiscating those illegal ones? What kind of an example is that for these kids? They are against the law to use but gosh, lets take the family to the reservation so we can all pick out which one’s we want.  Why would it not be a better example for the kids to learn that these are potentially dangerous and should only be used by professionals in designated areas? Considering how dry our area is now I think that our kids were taught several different things. One, it doesn’t matter if we start fires that could destroy or kill.  Two, our selfish pleasures take top priority over safety.  Three, and this is a lesson that I learned, don’t vote for Allison, Gerken or Weaver in the next election.

Evelyn Houser
Maple Valley