Drought Causing Fireworks Show Cancellations In Western U.S.

ACROSS AMERICA — A number of planned 4th of July fireworks shows across America have been canceled in 2021.

The cancellations are not because of the coronavirus pandemic but due to the extreme drought that has gripped much of the western United States.

“The drought conditions and dryness of the vegetation will disallow an opportunity to safely execute the 4th of July fireworks,” said David Thacker, a fire official in Park City, Utah, where the annual fireworks show has been canceled, according to The Park-Record newspaper.

Since then, there’s been a fireworks ban in Salt Lake City as the drought worsens.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said, "We've seen communities in neighboring western states be absolutely leveled by urban wildfires in recent years, and we can't take unnecessary risks that might put us, Salt Lake City, in that same position," according to KSL.

"I know this might feel like a loss of a beloved tradition for all of those Salt Lakers who love their driveway fireworks and I understand it's disappointing but given our current climate, it's simply not worth the risk," the mayor of Utah’s capital city added.

Fireworks have also been banned in at least two counties and in the city of Mandan, in North Dakota. Fire chiefs in both Burleigh and Morton counties have cited the extremely dry conditions for the fireworks ban, KVLY has reported.

Droughts are the “number one enemy of fireworks displays,” WeatherSTEM.com states. A single ember from a firework could spark a fire that, in the conditions much of the western United States is experiencing this summer, could lead to a widespread tragedy.

Utah and North Dakota are among the states with areas experiencing an “exceptional drought,” the worst level issued by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Fire officials told The Park-Record the drought prevents fireworks event organizers from watering the zone where fireworks shells fall, and increases the risk that firefighters will have to use water that is needed by others in the agriculture and ranching communities.

California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon also have areas with the worst level of drought, according to the drought monitor.

The Golden State hasn’t seen conditions this dry since 1977, and climate experts there have said this could be the worst drought the area has seen in more than a millennium.

"This current drought is potentially on track to become the worst that we've seen in at least 1,200 years," Kathleen Johnson, associate professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, told The Guardian. "And the reason is linked directly to human-caused climate change."

Dry conditions are affecting more than just the Western states. An area in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin is experiencing an “extreme drought”; and Iowa, South Dakota and Michigan all have areas with a “severe drought,” the drought monitor shows.

Marion, Iowa, Fire Marshal Wade Markley said it would only take one misplaced firework to spark a fire that could spread in the Midwest.

“You also have to remember that you have dry leaves and things that are up in your gutters and your roof, and we don’t want bottle rockets and sparks from fireworks to ignite any of those materials,” Markley said in a KCRG report.

Abnormally dry conditions extend to the East Coast, according to the drought monitor, with Florida, Virginia, the Carolinas and much of New England also outlined on the drought map.

While most planned fireworks displays are slated to go on, the debate in the West continues as more places opt for cancellation.

It will be a “game-time decision” whether to go on with the show in Oakley, Utah, The Park-Record reported, citing local officials.

Not anywhere in nearby Summit County, however. Permits will not be handed out for any fireworks shows there, Park City Fire Marshal Mike Owens told The Park-Record.

“We’re in a situation where water is at a premium,” Owens said. “We don’t want to have to spend water fighting a fire that was completely preventable.”