Where was the fireworks ban?

From 9 to 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July, we found ourselves wondering why we residents of Tumwater had voted and passed twice a law to prohibit fireworks. Not only could we hear them being shot off all around us, our next-door neighbor ignited professional ones, which exploded frighteningly close to our heavily treed property.

When my husband called the number advertised on the “Fireworks Prohibited in City of Tumwater” sign (coincidentally nailed to a post on the neighbor’s property) there was nothing but an answering machine on which to leave a complaint. No one did a thing to enforce the new law and we were never contacted. We are extremely fortunate our next call did not have to be to the fire department.

Laws are a joke when not enforced. If the city of Tumwater can’t do that, repeal it and chalk it up to a good law gone bad.