Utah State Fire Marshal Ted Black gets nervous when fireworks season rolls around.
“My children call me the state fun hater,” he said.
Fireworks are legal, and Black wants Utahns to enjoy the Fourth of July and Pioneer Day. He just wants them to do it responsibly and to keep alcohol out of the equation. He also recommends keeping a garden hose at the ready, plus a bucket of water to soak any duds. And he asks revelers to pay attention to the weather.
“If the wind's blowing, maybe you want to consider celebrating in a different way.”
Utahns can buy fireworks from June 24 through July 25, along with December 29 through 31 and the two days leading up to and on Chinese New Year’s Eve. The dates for setting them off, however, are narrower. Over the summer, it’s July 2 through 5 and July 22 through 25. They’re only allowed from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., except on the holidays themselves, when the time is extended to midnight.
Setting off fireworks outside of those dates and times can bring a fine of up to $1,000. Using non-approved fireworks from other states is also against the law.
Municipalities have the power to restrict fireworks “in certain areas with hazardous environmental conditions” under state law. The Division of Public Safety gathers restriction information, but recommends people check with local authorities for the most up-to-date rules.
Ogden, for instance, recently adopted a color-coded system that changes as conditions dry. Restrictions are currently orange, which prohibits open burning and all types of fireworks in certain areas, including river paths and in the wildland-urban interface east of Harrison Boulevard.
“What we're trying to prevent is a huge catastrophe where, if you're in the wildland, it could transfer very easily to the scrub oak and the pines and then move up the mountain and spread to other homes,” said Ogden Fire Marshal Kevin Brown. Individuals can be liable for the cost if their use of fireworks causes a fire.
“We average probably 15 to 20 fireworks fires every July [in Ogden],” he said.
A fire can start in a garbage can full of spent fireworks and spread to a house, or fireworks can land in dry grass and ignite it. If the fire danger increases, the city could move to red restrictions, which would prohibit all ignition sources in the affected areas.
The rules aren’t random, Brown said.
“We rely on data from the Forest Service for fuel moistures,” he said. “The National Weather Service, they have their predictive fire services, and we look at the number of red flag days we've had, temperature, humidity, that type of thing.”
Still, Ogden City Council member Dave Graf sees people using aerial fireworks in restricted areas every year — meaning the rules are “ignored, or people just aren't informed,” he said, and that costs the city in enforcement.
Fire and police crews patrol restricted areas on and around the holidays when fireworks are permitted, Brown said. They prioritize education but may issue a fine up to $1,000.
Graf wishes it were harder for residents to buy fireworks.
“The fact that you can go down onto Harrison Boulevard, buy aerial fireworks, and then go to your home above Harrison and blow them off, kind of makes the ban moot,” he said.
Ogden cannot restrict where fireworks are sold based on fire risk, according to a city spokesperson. Limiting fireworks wouldn’t stop all fires, Graf noted, but it could lower the chances of one starting.
“I would hate to see our mountainside burn, and even more so hate to see our neighborhoods [at] risk,” he said.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
