County Commissioners issue emergency ordinance banning sky lanterns

Published 5:16 am Wednesday, June 24, 2015

PORT ORCHARD — The Kitsap County Board of County Commissioners passed an ordinance June 22 banning the use of sky lanterns.

“Sky lanterns are a beautiful way to celebrate,” county Fire Marshal Dave Lynam said, “but they present a very real and dangerous fire risk.”

Sky lanterns are essentially small, unmanned, hot air balloons. They are made of oiled rice paper on a bamboo or wire frame. A small candle or fuel cell made of a waxy combustible material heats the air inside the lantern causing it to float. Once lit, they have the ability to float 1,500 feet in altitude, travel up to 20 miles from the point of release and can land on combustible materials.

“These lanterns are balls of fire falling from the sky and you can’t control where they land,” Lynam said in a press release issued after the commission’s vote. “They can cause structure fires when they land on rooftops, vehicles, power lines, gardens or lawns.”

In July 2011, a sky lantern falling on the roof of a house near Poulsbo caused an estimated $275,000 in fire damage. In July 2013, a sky lantern landed on a hillside and created a 500-acre wildfire in Selah. In June, a cell phone tower caught fire shortly after lanterns were launched as part of Lantern Fest in Gastonia, North Carolina.

In addition to damage to structures, lanterns have caused serious burns and injuries to people, animals and livestock, and present a risk to aviation if they are sucked into an engine, Lynam said.

“Dry summer conditions only increase the danger,” Lynam said. “It doesn’t really make sense to send fire into the sky with no way to mitigate the risk present when it lands.”

The resolution takes effect immediately. Penalties for violating the ordinance may include confiscation as well as civil infraction and reimbursement for the damage caused, including the cost of emergency responses.