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(Updated at 3:16 p.m. to clarify that the Harbor District's boundary at Nickel Creek is 3 miles down the beach from Anchor Way.)

Crescent City Harbor commissioners were adamant that fireworks, even the Safe and Sane variety, don’t belong in the marina.

But one of their colleagues, Brian Stone, called for a full fireworks ban in the entire harbor, which includes roughly 7 3 miles of beach south to Nickel Creek. He accused his fellow commissioners, Harry Adams and Rick Shepherd, of being worried about damage to their boats and said if they were going to make policy it had to be for the entire harbor.

“You can’t pick and choose,” Stone said. “What that reeks of is personal interest, and I don’t want to see this as being personal interest.”

At a special meeting Thursday, the Harbor District Board of Commissioners directed staff to draft an ordinance banning all fireworks in the marina and at Whaler Island Groin. That ordinance would allow Safe and Sane fireworks on the section of beach that falls within the Harbor District.

Crescent City Harbormaster Tim Petrick said staff will include a map in the draft ordinance that will come back to commissioners for a vote.

This decision came about two months after a Fourth of July fireworks explosion on South Beach sent 14 people to the hospital, including a 3-year-old boy. Adams and his colleague Gerhard Weber have been taking part in meetings with city and county representatives as well as Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott, Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin as well as CalFire and Crescent City Fire and Rescue representatives.

According to Adams, having zero tolerance on fireworks of any kind in the boat basin and at Whaler Island Groin would lighten the pressure on the fire department, police department and emergency services. He said participants in that meeting were supportive of that option because it would provide “ease of mind.”

Weber said he and Adams recommended designating the marina and Whaler’s Island a safe zone because the Harbor District controls its access. He pointed out that trying to enforce a fireworks ban on the beach would be difficult because the port lacks the personnel.

“Anytime you establish a rule that you cannot enforce, you’re asking it to go completely by the wayside,” Weber said. “And, by the way, telling everybody that the whole harbor including South Beach is off limits please go to your neighborhood and blow those neighborhoods up, is also not good if I followed that logic of not permitting anything in the harbor.”

Stone continued to insist that if the Harbor District was going to institute a fireworks ban, that it should apply to the entire district not just the marina.

“If we have a problem patrolling or doing something with South Beach, that’s one thing the sheriff’s department does is ask for mutual aid, same thing with the fire department,” Stone said.

Harbormaster Tim Petrick said mutual aid on the Fourth of July often isn’t available, not even from the state.

“Every municipality and every county in the state has the same problem we have with fireworks,” he said. “It’s not special to us. There are no extra officers to borrow from anywhere.”

Shepherd, who is a commercial fisherman and noted previously that boat owners found firework remnants on their vessels, agreed that enforcing a ban that includes the beach is impossible. Controlling the two entrances into the marina — at Anchor Way and Citizens Dock Road — “is probably the best we can expect to do,” he said.

“There’s 10 entrances to the beach and most of them are through [Redwood National] park,” he said. “So I believe the park would be a better place to regulate the fireworks on the beach.”

According to Petrick, who is also participating in the meetings with city, county and state representatives, Del Norte County is considering create an ordinance of their own that mirrors the city’s law.

Crescent City’s fireworks ordinance dates back to about 2012 and authorizes it to levy fines on anyone who possesses, uses, stores, sells or displays fireworks classified by the State of California as dangerous.

In California, illegal fireworks include sky rockets, bottle rockets, Roman candles, aerial shells, firecrackers and other fireworks that explode, go into the air or move on the ground in an uncontrollable manner.

According to District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey, who is also participating in meetings regarding fireworks, the Board will discuss giving direction to county counsel to draft a fireworks ordinance that mirrors the city on Tuesday.

At the Board of Supervisors’ Aug. 27 meeting, Starkey said that participants agreed that enforcing a camping ban on South Beach would alleviate many of the issues that occur during the holiday, including the excessive drinking.

A subcommittee was also formed to create a media campaign to educate the public, she said.

“While it’s clear that illegal fireworks are illegal, it’s nice to have a reminder as you’re driving through Del Norte County, either through billboards or electronic road signs,” Starkey said.

Starkey added that meeting participants have also considered getting the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce involved in a media campaign to get that message to hotter markets like Redding and Eugene.

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