BREMERTON — This past Fourth of July, many residents took their garden hoses and soaked their homes in hopes of protecting them from errant Roman candles, spinners, bottle rockets and mortars. Two years from now, they may not have to take the same precautions.

The Bremerton City Council amended its firework ordinance Sept. 2 to allow the fire chief to ban fireworks in times of extreme danger. The amendment comes on the heels of a particularly dry summer in Kitsap County, in which moisture content in wood was 11 percent lower than usual in June.

The city council explored the possibility of banning fireworks this past Fourth of July, but state law prohibits changes to firework code on such short notice.

“Fortunately, it turned out OK this year, but there are times where resources may be stretched and our city may be at risk,” said Council President Greg Wheeler. “This proposal actually gives us an option to address extreme conditions.”

The law requires any changes to firework code to be passed at least 365 days before going into place. Fireworks may only be sold between June 28 and July 4, so the earliest the fire chief could issue a ban is in 2017.

Chris Williams, a licensed pyrotechnician and former fireworks stand operator, was encouraged by the preemptive measures taken by residents over the Fourth of July weekend.

“I think most people are actually very smart,” Williams said when addressing the council. “They were looking at how dry things were and they adjusted their purchases and displays appropriately.”

But Williams was concerned that without the cooperation of the county, a ban could force people to take their fireworks outside city limits, and not actually reduce the total number of related incidents countywide.

“If the rest of the county’s not doing that it might push it to another place,” Williams said.

For his part, Duke said he wouldn’t issue a ban unless the county was on board.

“If the county doesn’t ban fireworks it’d be kind of difficult for us to ban fireworks so I would assume that at least the county would have to ban fireworks too because otherwise you just go across the street and buy,” Duke said.

His decision would ultimately be determined by a number of other factors, including:

• Whether a burn ban was already in effect.

• The number of Bremerton firefighters fighting wildfires or on vacation.

• The moisture content in wood.

• Long term weather forecast.

Duke said he would consult with the city council before issuing a fireworks ban. He joked that he wouldn’t last long as fire chief if he banned them without the council’s blessing.

If a ban were issued, Duke said he would do so about two to three weeks before July 4.

It appears that fireworks retailers would be hit the hardest.

Williams said most commercial retailers buy their product long before July 4 and may not be able to return them, but they’d be able to sell it the following year, so long as they kept it dry.

However, Duke said many firework stands are run by nonprofit organizations — like churches — that get their fireworks before July 4 without ever exchanging money. After the weekend is over they return what they didn’t sell and then pay for what they did sell. In the case of a ban, they would likely just return all their fireworks.

The amendment also allows police to issue citations to people violating the code. In years past, Bremerton police have only been able to issue citations for illegal fireworks, but discerning between legal and illegal fireworks can be difficult.

Capt. Tom Wolfe of Bremerton Police said an outright ban would make the code easier to enforce, but police would likely only be able to ticket egregious offenders.

“It’s like speeding vehicles,” Wolfe said. “We’ll be able to ticket some, but not all.”

Central Communications, or CenCom, which handles Kitsap County’s 911 calls, fielded 687 calls July 4 from 8 p.m. to midnight. In fact, they fielded so many calls that some lines reportedly jammed that night.

Although not all calls were related to fireworks — Wolfe said alcohol plays a big factor in the high number of July Fourth incidents — there was a significant spike shortly after 8 p.m.

Other changes to the ordinance include:

• A ban on “Chinese lanterns” and other open flame devices.

• Limiting the time frame for applying for firework sale permits to May 1 – June 1.

• Requiring applications for public displays permits to be submitted at least 30 days prior to the scheduled display.