The Auburn Police Department responded to 89 fireworks-related calls between 11 a.m. July 4 and 8 a.m. July 5, the second lowest number of calls among the cities of Auburn, Renton (123), Kent (119), Federal Way (112) and Tukwila (33).
In addition, Auburn’s volume of calls during this year’s entire June 1 to July 5 fire season was the city’s lowest in the years between 2019 when it logged 390, and 2024 when it logged 205, according to Auburn Police Cmdr. Brandon Skeen.
That was good enough for Skeen, who was in charge of the city’s 2024 fireworks plan, to grade the APD’s strategy of focusing on areas of the city with the highest volume of complaints, and shifting emphasis enforcement to the areas of greatest need during fire season.
“It appears that this approach had a positive impact,” Skeen told the Auburn City Council at its Aug. 12 study session, when he presented the APD’s 2024 Fireworks Report.
Much of the success appears to stem from continuing the policies laid down years ago.
In 2020, the Auburn City Council changed the city’s fireworks ordinance to reflect the ability of officers to issue civil infractions instead of criminal citations for many portions of the related city code.
In 2024, the Auburn Police Department continued its “zero tolerance” policy on the possession and/or discharge of illegal fireworks in the city.
The upshot today is that if officers can establish probable cause for either possession or discharge of illegal fireworks, they are able to cite the appropriate city code. If officers cannot establish probable cause for a particular individual, and fireworks are present, police will confiscate them and hand them over to the Valley Regional Fire Authority for destruction.
From the report
During the 2024 fireworks emphasis — excluding July 4 — 11 officers and three sergeants worked a total of 189 hours between June 7 and July 3. Eighteen hours (three shifts) went unfilled.
On July 4, the APD assigned 12 officers and two sergeants to fireworks emphasis patrols throughout the city, a decrease from the 16 officers and three sergeants it fielded in 2023. Officers worked as two-person marked units to be as visible as possible within the community.
The deployment was split into six officer elements, supervised by a sergeant for effective command and control. Deployments were split into north and south, each being responsible for the parks and schools within their area of responsibility, according to the report.
Six officers and one sergeant were deployed to the fireworks stands for a uniformed police presence and crowd management in-and-around the discharge area. Several thousand citizens visited the fireworks stands and discharge area throughout the day. There were no significant fireworks injuries on the evening of July 4, and no significant fireworks related injuries at the stands during the week leading up to the holiday, according to the report. There were no reported injuries to officers this year, although there was a small brush fire near the Muckleshoot discharge area.
The peak activity hours for fireworks‐related calls occurred between 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. The stands were shut down at 11:20 p.m. It took approximately two hours to effectively clear the discharge area and parking lot.
On July 4, the APD continued to emphasize patrolling city parks and schools to reduce fireworks debris. As usual, city parks were a popular area for citizens to congregate and discharge fireworks. At one point, emphasis officers were called to Isaac Evans Park where a male, no age given, was reported to be throwing fireworks at people. Police later arrested this individual.
From that incident and others, Skeen drew up a few suggestions for the future.
“Although this incident occurred during the daytime, physically closing parks at dusk may decrease the potential for trespassing within the park with fireworks,” Skeen said. “Additionally, turning on sprinklers in the parks may also deter people from congregating in the parks to discharge fireworks after daylight hours.
“As in years past,” Skeen continued, “it is highly suggested that barricades, closing physical gates, and additional signage are posted by park employees, reminding community members of the zero‐tolerance stance regarding fireworks and/or trespassing in parks after dusk. These should be considered in the future,” Skeen said.
Traffic the usual tangle
This July 4, traffic on Auburn Way South was backed up as usual for most of the afternoon and evening because of the left-turn lane into the Muckleshoot stands and discharge area. Additionally, at times, vehicles were parking on the right (curb) lanes of Auburn Way South. Police traffic units kept in contact with city engineers to work through the light cycles to mitigate traffic. Skeen said the sheer volume of vehicles and the spacing/timing of the lights, however, had become overwhelming by the afternoon hours.
Traffic officers helped with the increased traffic flow in the city by responding to traffic-related calls for service. In total, the traffic unit responded to 12 total calls (4 collisions, 3 traffic complaints, 3 assist calls, 1 hangup, and 1 follow up on July 4). All the call responses by traffic units occurred before 11 p.m. hours. At 11:20 a.m., traffic units helped with controlling the Muckleshoot Plaza intersection and the discharge area outlet road until traffic was funneled out of the area. Traffic officers maintained control of these areas until 1:20 a.m. when the discharge area was shut down.
Calls by patrol district
Drawing from the report, organized by patrol districts, are the fireworks-related calls for service and fireworks-related arrests from 2019 to 2024.
District 1, 7 calls: This is the northwest part of the city, incorporating West Hill.
District 2, 17 calls: Extending from 277th at the north end to Highway 18 at the south, including areas like Auburn Way North, and I Street Northeast.
District 3, 25 calls: Lea Hill.
District 4, 12 calls: This includes The Outlet Collection, then jumps across the Union Pacific railroad tracks and continues all the way from Highway 18 to 29th Street Southeast.
District 5, 11 calls: South of 29th Street Southeast.
District 6, 17 calls: Muckleshoot hill.
