Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said Wednesday enforcing the city’s ban on illegal fireworks is “incredibly difficult."

“The biggest issue is the supply,” he said.  "Most of our efforts are in vain because of the availability of illegal fireworks."

White said anyone can drive 15 minutes south of town and buy fireworks that are banned in Coeur d'Alene.

“Not much will change until the availability of illegal fireworks is addressed,” he said. “The solution to this problem truly lies in curbing the availability of illegal fireworks.” 

The explosions from aerial fireworks on, around and throughout the July 4 and Jan. 1 holidays has led some residents to call for the city to do something to quiet things down. They have said fireworks frighten pets, create fire hazards, affect military members with PTSD and disturb the peace. 

Councilor Christie Wood recently suggested the City Council discuss establishing a fireworks zone where families could voluntarily celebrate with fountains, sparklers and other legal fireworks. She said if residents had such a place to light fireworks, it might reduce noise in neighborhoods.

She said she has heard from several residents sharing concerns about fireworks. The California fires have raised fears about what could happen with fireworks this summer in Coeur d'Alene, specifically around July 4, the driest time of the year.

"That's definitely on people's minds," Wood said.

White said while fireworks zones could have some merit and could help, they're not a solution. 

“It wouldn't do anything to curb the illegal fireworks, which is our No. 1 issue,” he said. 

Tyrel Stevenson, legislative director for The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, said the Tribe closely regulates the sale of fireworks on the reservation by licensed vendors, and also regulates the use of fireworks on the reservation. 

"Different jurisdictions allow different types of fireworks, and those regulations may differ between the city of Coeur d'Alene and the Tribe," he wrote. "The Tribe does not regulate or enforce fireworks within the City of Coeur d'Alene, and vendors are not empowered or equipped to inquire into the intentions or home residence of customers."

White outlined his department’s efforts to discourage use of illegal fireworks:

• Requested that the streets department deploy three reader boards warning that enforcement will be conducted on illegal fireworks. 

• Had signs made and posted in the parks and on trailheads warning people about using fireworks (eight of which were stolen after being put up).  

• Officers worked nine shifts on overtime, with 3 or 4 officers each shift, on Friday and Saturdays from June 1 to July 7. During this time, there were 97 calls for fireworks. The city received 116 calls for fireworks violations for all of 2024.  

White said the majority of the calls were cleared “unable to locate," meaning the people lighting the fireworks couldn't be found because they had gone back inside or were not visible from the street, or police could not otherwise determine where they were launched from or who launched them. 

Some of the calls were cleared because the “offender” was actually lighting legal Safe and Sane fireworks, not the illegal kind, White said. 

Officers issued three citations, six petitions, and 14 warnings for fireworks violations in 2024. In 2023, police issued eight fireworks citations.  

“Summer is our busiest time of the year and regular patrol officers are almost always tied up on other in-progress, higher priority calls, and so our response to this issue would not be possible without the use of officers on overtime,” White said. 

White said the main issue surrounding enforcement of illegal fireworks use is that the officer must witness someone lighting the fireworks, or running from it immediately after lighting it, or be in possession of illegal fireworks, for police to take enforcement action.

He said a concerned citizen can be a witness if they are willing to testify and/or have their name attached to the police report, but they also must actually see someone light them and be able to identify them in the dark, “not just be annoyed by them."  

“Since fireworks are deployed in the dark, or in someone’s backyard, or when multiple people are around, actually witnessing an individual lighting fireworks is difficult,” White said. “Additionally, most of our calls for service regarding fireworks are received after most or all of the fireworks have been deployed.” 

He said many times police officers deploy to an area and see fireworks go off in the sky and then try to locate the source without success.     

“We are unaware of any other law enforcement agency in our area that actually dedicates officers to firework enforcement,” White said. 

He found some humor in the situation. 

“If our biggest issue is fireworks, we're doing pretty good,” White said. 

Wood said there used to be a sense of community in Coeur d'Alene when people showed more empathy for neighbors and didn't light so many fireworks late into the night.

She said that seems to have been lost, but as long as fireworks are a concern for constituents, it's a concern for the City Council.

"I'm going to bring it forward for discussion," Wood said. "Somewhere, we have to find a happy medium."