Wet weather means Halloween fireworks will go ahead in parts of Metro Vancouver

Firefighters around Metro Vancouver are gearing up for the return of Halloween fireworks, an annual tradition to some and a nuisance to others, with the return of wet weather.

While family fireworks are only legal in certain Metro Vancouver municipalities, the unusually prolonged autumn drought had officials in many of those communities considering banning them due to fire risk.

This week’s deluge has changed the equation, and the prospect of a ban has faded.

“The fire risk has made a significant drop, cooler temperatures and traditional fall weather have helped that,” explained District of North Vancouver Assistant Fire Chief Monty Robinson.

“So the risk in the forests in the area has gone from high down to low. It’s not just the forests, its the parks, the soccer fields, the large public open places.”

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While fireworks remain legal in the districts of North Vancouver and West Vancouver, users must be adults and have a permit and set them off on private property, Robinson added.

The changing weather has lifted spirits for retailers like Phatboy Fireworks in Port Moody — now the last outlet of a former chain that’s been grappling with changing bylaws in recent years.

“Before we used to have dozens of locations across the Lower Mainland but now due to all the new rules and the changes with the laws this is Phatboy’s only location in the Lower Mainland, in all of B.C. for this Halloween,” operator Satnam Cheema said.

The movement to ban fireworks in Metro Vancouver municipalities has slowly gained ground in recent years.

The City of Surrey banned the sale and use of fireworks in 2005. In 2016, Burnaby banned their sale, though still allows use on Halloween with restrictions.

And in 2020, the City of Vancouver banned both the sale and the use of pyrotechnics.

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Capt. Matthew Trudeau, public information officer for the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services said since it was implemented, the ban has had a dramatic effect on fire safety on Halloween night.

“The couple years leading up to the ban we saw a number of house fires, a lot of damage even to fences, to trees, to vegetation,” he said.

“Since 2020 we’ve seen a significant drop. We’re just not seeing the damage to schools, to property,” he added, noting that complaints to 311 were also down.

Last year the VFRS said the costs associated with Halloween firework-related incidents had plummeted to just $5,500 — down from $408,000 the last year they were legal.

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Trudeau said that when fireworks were legal to use, most people were responsible with them, but there were always some scofflaws as well as some accidents.

“We saw a number of house fires just because of fireworks going off into eves, through windows,” he said.

Trudeau said the department’s prevention inspectors will be on the streets through Halloween. And while they prefer education as their primary tool, he said they’re authorized to confiscate fireworks and issue fines ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

“We’re hoping we don’t have to go there as far as using that ability, but it’s definitely an option our inspectors will use,” he said.

Back at Phatboy, Cheema said he was pleased the weather would allow the fireworks to go ahead as usual.

And he said despite the slowly changing rules, he was confident the tradition would remain in some form in parts of the region.

“At the end of the day, it’s something that people love and they won’t let it die completely,” he said.

“People who do have the passion for it and love for it and they do respectfully do fireworks, they clean up their garbage, they don’t make a mess, they follow the rules, they do it on the right days, they are going to make sure that the industry continues booming.”