County Auditor holds lottery for retail fireworks permits on Feb. 13

Vancouver, WA – The Clark County Auditor’s Office will hold a lottery drawing to select applicants for two retail fireworks permits at 9 a.m. on Feb. 13 at the Clark County Elections Building, 1408 Franklin St., Vancouver. Applicants do not have to be present to be selected. The lottery is open to the public.

Two permits allowing sales of fireworks in unincorporated Clark County became available in January. The Fire Marshal’s Office received 237 applications from individuals and groups interested in selling fireworks. The two lottery winners must submit a permit application and fee before receiving their retail fireworks permits.

All retail fireworks sales require a permit in Clark County and the county’s population limits the number of permits available. The Fire Marshal’s Office will issue 40 fireworks permits within unincorporated Clark County in 2009. This is the same number as last year. Two permit holders did not renew their permits in 2008 as allowed by county code, which resulted in the lottery. Additional information about the permitting process is available at www.clark.wa.gov/commdev/documents/firemarshal/fireworks.pdf.