Skip the house fireworks this weekend, western officials ask – Mother Jones
A fireworks stand in Monterey Park, California earlier this year.Sports / Newscom / ZUMA
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As Independence Day approaches, firefighters and government officials across the West have a message for residents regarding traditional fireworks fun at home: please abstain.
This year’s combination of rising temperatures, unusually severe drought and fears of another epic fire season has led local and state officials to anticipate the July 4th forest fire threat. It’s hard to separate Americans from their beloved fireworks display, which generated $ 1.9 billion in consumer sales in 2020 and caused approximately 15,646 injuries, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. (The APA also cites older data showing that there were 17,800 fireworks fires in 2011.)
CalFire takes the threat pretty seriously. On Thursday, the California state fire department tweeted statistics of illegal fireworks confiscations along the state line, perhaps to show that their officials were serious.
In May and June, CAL FIRE-OSFM police officers conducted targeted containment operations along the California border that resulted in the confiscation of nearly 80,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, 932 traffic controls for various violations and 215 accusations of dangerous fireworks issued. pic.twitter.com/ETqsDFtAeh
– CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) July 1, 2021
Last week, the San Mateo County sheriff’s office in Northern California announced that it had broken up a fireworks ring.
The investigation resulted in the seizure of approximately 15,000 pounds of illegal fireworks and approximately $ 1 million in cash
– San Mateo County SO (@SMCSheriff) June 25, 2021
Meanwhile, on June 30, Los Angeles police confiscated £ 5,000 of illegal fireworks in a residential area. When a bomb squad detonated some of the explosives, the explosion damaged nearby buildings and left at least 17 people injured.
#BREAKINGNEWS: New video shows the moment when a large warehouse of illegal #fireworks detonated in a #LAPD bomb squad in #SouthLA. At least 9 people were injured in the massive explosion. Live coverage – Tonight at 11 am from ABC7. https://t.co/cUgEI7ENs4 pic.twitter.com/0T2dXKLCfB
– ABC7 eyewitness news (@ ABC7) July 1, 2021
But the bigger threat to health and livelihoods could be the coincidence of illegal fireworks and the tinderboxes in 2021. Nearly 60 million people in the western states live in areas currently affected by drought. The Pacific Northwest and Western Canada have coped with a record-breaking heat wave that killed hundreds of people and hospitalized hundreds more, even if it contributes to more dangerous fire conditions. More than 20 percent of the country’s land area falls into one of the two most extreme drought categories. Most of this land is in areas whose temperature records have just been broken, according to Climate.gov.
Illegal fireworks caused hundreds of fires in California last year, where wildfires burned more than four million acres.
Most forest fires – 85 percent according to the National Park Service – are man-made. In 2017, a teenager from Vancouver, Washington, threw fireworks into a canyon and lit the Eagle Creek Fire, which caused evacuations, destroyed homes and burned nearly 48,000 acres in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge. The 15-year-old was sentenced to five years probation and sentenced to $ 36.6 million in compensation, which he could not afford.
Illegal fireworks caused hundreds of fires last year in California, where wildfires burned more than four million acres. In a memorable incident, a pyrotechnic mishap at a gender reveal party in El Dorado started wildfire that killed one person and burned thousands of acres. (Dozens more fires and injuries have occurred associated with gender revelations).
So far this season 12 forest fires are burn in California, four in Oregon, and three in Nevada.
On a June 30th press conference in Salt Lake City, Governor Spencer ` said he was unable to directly ban fireworks but pleaded with other Utah residents to get a permit: “I beg you, each of you, to do the right thing . And this year it is right to clear away the fireworks. ”` is also represented in public campaigns that urge fire safety.
Limit Utah Forest Fires, by @gov`: Only start campfires in approved fire pits when restrictions allow. Drain until it cools. Use fireworks only at approved times, never on state or on state / unincorporated private property. Shoot away from dry vegetation and rocks. pic.twitter.com/fjJxtsUhVx
– Utah Fire Info (@UtahWildfire) June 29, 2021
In Portland, where the so-called Heat dome the temperatures pushed up to a frightening 117 degrees, The fire brigade has issued an absolute ban on fireworks. “If we don’t take this proactive step now, I’m afraid the consequences could be devastating,” said Chief Sara Boone said in a statement. “It’s not easy to make such a decision so close to our national holiday, but as a fire chief, I have a greater responsibility to make sometimes unpopular decisions in unprecedented times to protect life, property and the environment.”
Elsewhere in Oregon, the governor declared a state of emergency on Tuesday due to “imminent fire hazard”. Local firework bans have been issued in Bend and Clark Counties. Ditto Camus and Washougal in Washington State. California’s Calaveras County passed a ban until November 30th. And the District Attorney for Butte County, where the infamous Camp Fire razed the Paradise community in 2018, recently warned that accidentally setting fires with fireworks is a criminal offense. However, according to CalFire, nearly 300 California communities will continue to use state-approved fireworks – those with a “safe and healthy” seal.
In Nevada, the Bureau of Land Management banned all fireworks in the state through Halloween 2021. “Nevada is experiencing record drought, with much of the state in severe drought,” Paul Petersen, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada’s fire management officer, said in one Explanation. “We could get a challenge this summer.”
All fireworks are banned in San Antonio, Texas, and the city of El Paso has banned several types.
Not only the authorities are sounding the alarm. After horrific, successive spells of fire that destroyed countless houses and businesses, displaced thousands of families and breathed millions more smoke-clogged air for weeks or months, the residents of the endangered fire regions are nervous. Some have used Twitter to raise their concerns using the hashtag #banfireworks.
“# 2020 fires was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life! ”tweeted an Oregon resident. “This heat is a new level of weirdness. Put off the fireworks! “
From FL, lived in TX, now OR. I’ve seen a lot of hurricanes and tornadoes … # 2020Fires were the most terrible thing I’ve ever seen in my life! Please no repetitions! This heat is a new level of weirdness. Put down the fireworks! Watch as Disney loosens their appearances on TV. #banfireworks
– BRUSHMECHANIC 🧢 (@brushmechanic_) June 27, 2021
Another pleaded: “Let’s not burn the state down this year.”
I came home from a late day at work, about 150 meters behind our house. Thanks to @OgdenFireDept for the quick dismantling. Let’s all be friendly and avoid fireworks. Let’s not burn the state down this year #banfireworkshttps: //t.co/IgN8jBimqe pic.twitter.com/RbvCbM3Jga
– Sean L (@ GRTx3) June 24, 2021