Petition to ban Halloween fireworks circulates in Vancouver

Setting off fireworks is a Halloween tradition in B.C. that, for some, goes hand-in-hand with dressing up and collecting candy but there are those who would like to see it stopped.

More than a thousand people have signed the petition Chris Baisley started to ban the use of Roman candles, bottle rockets and firecrackers in Vancouver. 

"For many years, I've just been becoming more and more annoyed with the long duration of disruption that the community suffers quite predictably every year," said Baisley. 

The Vancouver man started the online petition last Halloween, which says, in part, Vancouver residents are  "assaulted day and night with the aural vandalism of fireworks being detonated" as soon as they go on sale every year. A process he says can last long after the holiday is over. 

"People talk about the disruption to their sleep, their kids, their pets. It's primarily the fact that it goes on for weeks at a time."

Baisley says his main concern is over the disruption to the community, but the petition also references a house fire, a woman who lost her eye and a dog that died because of fireworks. 

City has considered banning fireworks

Only a handful of cities and districts across the Lower Mainland allow the sale and/or discharge of fireworks during Halloween and many have additional restrictions in place. 

Vancouver put a permitting system into place in 2008. Residents now need a permit to buy them and failure to comply can result in a $500 fine. 

Jonathan Gormick, the public information officer with Vancouver Fire and Rescue, says the city has considered banning fireworks but decided against it. 

"The City of Vancouver's position is that prohibiting fireworks would do nothing more than drive the sale of fireworks underground and promote the sale of clandestine, black market fireworks and firecrackers that haven't met the Canadian safety standards."

He points to other municipalities in the Greater Vancouver area that still see fireworks displays Halloween night, even when it's against the law.

"They still see firework use and they still see people in those municipalities having fireworks and firecrackers confiscated."

Gormick says the number of fireworks-related calls Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services attends has dropped every year since the permits were put in place. 

"The hope was that would give people a safe and legal path to buy fireworks that have been certified for use in Canada, so there is a degree of safety to them. They've been tested. They have instruction in both official languages."