Unless something changes, an impending burn ban in Island County won’t affect the upcoming fireworks season.

Island County Sheriff Rick Felici, who is also the county fire marshal, announced this week that a Type I burn will go into effect in the unincorporated areas of the county at midnight on Sunday, July 2.

The announcement states that the sheriff worked closely with fire chiefs from the different districts, the Northwest Clean Air Agency and Island County Public Health to make decisions about burning restrictions. The factors that go into the decision making include fuel moisture level, atmospheric conditions, long-range weather forecast and the availability of local firefighting resources.

The burn ban notice states that while current conditions are not quite as dry as this time last year, there is a likelihood “that things will dry out very rapidly.”

This is an El Nino year, which means weather is expected to be warmer and drier than normal. The recent cool, gray weather didn’t come with a lot of precipitation.

Type I burn bans prohibit all outdoor burning in unincorporated Island County except for recreational fires that occur in designated areas or on private property with the owner’s permission. The use of barbecue grills using propane or briquettes or self-contained camp stoves are also exempt from Type I burn bans.

Type I burn bans also do not apply to the use and discharge of consumer fireworks in compliance with chapter 9.08A or chapter 70.77 RCW.

An effort by a group of South Whidbey residents to ban fireworks in the county has been unsuccessful, at least so far. At the urging of Commissioner Melanie Bacon, however, officials started an education campaign to remind people that all fireworks are banned in parks on the island.