On this Fourth, don’t risk wildfires with fireworks

Update: This editorial has been updated to include information about fireworks bans announced late Tuesday.

For many Texans, celebrating Independence Day requires fire and fireworks.

Backyard cooks light up smokers and grills for the burgers, briskets and hot dogs they’ll barbecue. Also on the menu, entertainment provided by firecrackers, sparklers, and air-borne pyrotechnics that light up the night.

On this Fourth of July, however, those time-honored traditions are colliding with conditions so hot and dry that 130 counties across the state have enacted outdoor burn bans. That includes Tarrant, Parker, Palo Pinto, Wise and Johnson in North Texas, where a single spark from a cooking fire or a bottle rocket could ignite a wildfire that threatens homes and property.

No question we should all heed the general "burn bans" which prohibit open flames, sparks or embers. That means you can cook in a covered grill but not with an open fire. Delay burning the brush that’s been piling up.

Late Tuesday, at least four counties also announced fireworks bans. Johnson, Hood, Palo Pinto and Parker counties have issued disaster declarations that prohibit the use of fireworks for 60 hours, which includes the Fourth of July.

In counties that haven't specifically prohibited fireworks, the burn bans don’t cover consumer fireworks. While it is legal to use them in those unincorporated areas, you should resist the temptation and the risk you might ignite a blaze.

Instead, take in one of the many professional fireworks shows. They’ll outclass anything you could stage in your backyard, and they’re free.

Tarrant County Fire Marshal Randy Renois remembers when conditions were so dry in 2005 that Tarrant and 17 other counties banned fireworks around the Christmas holiday season.

The fireworks industry went to court to have that ban lifted. While the counties prevailed, the industry lobbied for changes in state law that now make it more difficult to prohibit fireworks even in drought-like conditions.

So, we’re suggesting you pack away any pyrotechnics you’ve already purchased and save them for a time when fire conditions aren’t so ripe.

Remember the Possum Kingdom wildfires in 2011? They destroyed more than 160 homes, two churches and 148,000 acres that are still recovering.

On this Fourth of July we don’t want to go there again.

This story was originally published July 3, 2018 at 4:09 PM.