Fire marshall firework mistake continues to burn

Government agencies have an uncanny ability to mess things up. In 2004, people from the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office delivered confiscated illegal fireworks to the Marion County garbage-burning plant in Brooks. The Fire Marshall failed to let the people at the Brooks facility the explosive nature of the material they delivered. Sure enough during the garbage burn, the fireworks exploded all over the place and did a half million in damage to the facility.

This reminds me of the attempt by ODOT to dispose of a whale on the beach by exploding it. It did not dispose of the whale but the flying parts certainly did a lot of damage.

Now, Marion County is considering suing the Fire Marshall. Taking taxpayer money from one agency to give it to another with attorney’s fees extracted along the way. Does this make any sense? Having taxpayers pay for the lawsuit only further burns taxpayers for an already costly problem.