As drought intensifies, Nevadans must be cautious about fireworks

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 | 2 a.m.

With a hot and dry July Fourth weekend approaching, the Bureau of Land Management issued a fire prevention order for all federally controlled public lands in Nevada that includes a ban on fireworks.

It was an appropriate action, which also included a ban on using tracer ammunition and exploding targets, and operation of vehicles without spark arrestor devices. In several Southern Nevada areas overseen by the BLM, there are also restrictions on campfires, cooking with charcoal grills, stove fires and smoking, except in enclosed vehicles.

The bottom line: In these tinder box conditions, anyone planning to visit public lands must take extreme caution to prevent wildfires. The BLM recommends taking along a shovel, a fire extinguisher and at least five gallons of water to extinguish any unintentional fires.

“The current national wildland fire potential outlook indicates that we could be in for a challenge this summer,” said BLM Nevada Fire Management Officer Paul Petersen in announcing the ban. “It is important for the public to understand and comply with the fire prevention order to help keep human-caused wildfires from needlessly damaging natural and cultural resources.”

Calling the situation a “challenge” is certainly correct but is putting it mildly.

As of Monday morning, the valley had received 0.86 inches of rain this year, less than half of the 30-year average of 2.08 inches by that date. We’re also coming off an unusually dry year: 2020 brought only 2.35 inches of precipitation, well below the average of about 4.2 inches per year. We also had only 18 days of measurable rainfall and a record 240-day stretch with no rain.

No surprise, we’ve suffered two wildfires in recent weeks, including one just west of Las Vegas caused by someone using incendiary ammunition.

Numerous Western cities are banning fireworks this year out of concerns over dry conditions.

As reported by the Associated Press, several cities in Arizona and Colorado have canceled municipal Fourth of July fireworks displays, while multiple cities have imposed bans on personal use of fireworks within city limits but are maintaining plans for their city-sponsored displays.

In Southern Nevada, it’s illegal to use most types of fireworks, including traditional firecrackers, bottle rockets, mortars, roman candles and the like. The only legal fireworks in Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Mount Charleston are so-called “safe and sane” items that went on sale beginning Monday in stands across the valley. Those types include hand-held sparklers, champagne poppers that emit confetti streamers, and raisin-sized snappers that produce a small pop when tossed against a hard surface.

Unfortunately, though, we can expect to see rampant violations of fireworks regulations. It happens every year in the valley, including last year when an official website used for reporting violations, ispyfireworks.com, drew 27,194 complaints from June 28 through July 5, including 17,332 on July 4.

This annual problem, combined with the ever-escalating dangers from the drought, calls for more aggressive action in curbing the use of dangerous fireworks in the valley. Keep in mind too that federal authorities reported more than 15,000 fireworks-related emergency room visits last year, thousands more than in 2019. That was partly due to pandemic-related cancellations of civic fireworks shows, which prompted many Americans to fire off backyard displays.

Here in Southern Nevada, it’s too late to do much this year beyond promoting responsibility and responding to as many violations as enforcement resources allow. But local leaders should be talking about how to address the issue more aggressively in future years.

With such widespread violations, it’s not feasible to expect police and fire officials to handle the issue themselves. The solution involves stiffer penalties, especially for repeat violators, greater public awareness about those increased penalties and stepped-up enforcement.

Fireworks are an increasingly dangerous public safety issue in the valley, and should be treated like one as opposed to a nuisance.

Other Western communities are seeing the light about the risk. Ours should too.