Fireworks and fire concerns in Draper’s unrestricted areas
Jun 30, 2023, 6:48 PM | Updated: 6:51 pm
DRAPER, Utah – Firefighters are on high alert this weekend as fireworks become legal to light off on Sunday in unrestricted areas. One area of concern is Draper, where fireworks ignited two small fires along the Porter Rockwell Trail on Tuesday.
“We did find some firework debris on the ground, we found leftover ground flowers,” said Don Buckley, Draper City Fire Marshal.
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The Porter Rockwell Trail is one area firefighters are concerned about right now, the Corner Canyon area is another. A record-breaking snow year has led to a heavy fuel load, and that fuel load is quickly drying out.
“About a week or so ago all this brown you see along the trail was green, it’s just drying out super-fast,” Buckley said.
He said even the areas that are still green are deceivingly dry and will burn quickly in a fire, as was seen along the Porter Rockwell Trail this week.
“We have massive growth because of all the water and now we have it drying out, so the littlest spark is going to take off,” he said.
Due to the fire risk, fireworks are prohibited in most of this city this year.
“Anything south of 13800 South there is no fireworks, that’s sparklers, that’s ground flowers, any fireworks period,” Buckley said.
To protect lives and property, anyone caught lighting fireworks in a restricted area will be fined $1,000. Anyone who causes a fire could be liable for all firefighting efforts and damages.
“People are thinking man we got all this water, what’s the issue, we can light fireworks off, reality is it is super, super dry,” Buckley said. “There is zero tolerance, no fireworks if you’re in a restricted area “Unfortunately, I’ll be writing you a citation or one of our officers will be writing you a citation.”