Fire Officials Prepare For Fireworks Season, Urge Utahns Not To Light Them Off

PROVO, Utah — Utahns can legally light off fireworks in select areas across the state beginning at 11 a.m. Friday, and one city is telling residents to take fireworks to their parks if you’re not going to leave it to the professionals.

“We just want people to be safe,” said Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield. “We want them to have a good time. We want them to be responsible.”

It is a familiar message every year in Utah. But in this season of historic drought, this holiday weekend is at even greater risk of fire danger.

“This is the driest year I can remember in my 30-year career,” Schofield said.

The extreme fire danger this year has prompted bans in many cities across the state. And both state and many local leaders and fire officials have asked their residents to skip personal fireworks this year and enjoy various shows instead.

A year after a fast-moving fire forced the evacuation of a third of the city, Saratoga Springs is warning about extreme fire danger and reminding residents of fireworks restrictions.@laddeganhttps://t.co/0cq1DxnsKL

— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) July 2, 2021

Schofield agrees and said, “Just because you can use fireworks, doesn’t mean you should.” But he also knows in Provo, as much as they would like people not to light fireworks, that it’s “not a realistic expectation. And we really can’t enforce it.”

That’s why among the yellow restricted areas on the city’s fireworks map, you’ll also see more green. The green highlights the parks where the city is encouraging people who are going to use fireworks to light them.

This year Schofield said they decided to add eight more parks to the typical list of five to give people more options for lighting the fireworks in a safer, more open space, with green grass and designated dumpsters to dispose of used fireworks.

“We all have to take ownership this season because of the extreme drought,” Schofield said. “We have to own our actions.”

Fire crews in Provo won’t be waiting for things to happen over the holiday weekend. They’ll be on patrol beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, keeping an eye on the parks and zeroing in on areas where fireworks are off-limits.

“We’ll cite them. There’s no room for error this year. There’s zero room for error,” Schofield said.