July 5, 2021

Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: 4.0 feet.

Huge mass of still hot fireworks and fireworks igniting driftwood still smoldering at 11AM.

I was part of the Solv cleanup. The amount of firework debris on the beach is huge and worse, it's still hot. Luckily I was wearing thick gloves when I came across the first pile. I called the Lincoln City fire department. Another Solv volunteer told me about still smoldering fireworks. This firework had ignited some driftwood and was very close to beach grass. The fire department did put out the fire but did not search for more because they do not have the time to respond to smoldering beach fires according to one of the fire personnel who responded to the call. The firemen asked me who is going to clean up this debris? It certainly wasn't my job and frankly I don't think anyone is going to clean it up even though it's Oregon State Parks responsibility. Worse, north of my mile there was an elephant seal pup on the beach trying to molt while all the fireworks were exploding last night. It's time Lincoln City banned the sale of all fireworks. It's obvious that city personnell do not have the resources to respond to beach fires and fireworks on this beach. An important note is that this portion of the beach is a marine reserve and federal law states no explosives are allowed on marine reserves.  Oregon State Parks has to be more involved in enforcing the law on this beach.