(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . What El Paso’s drought means for July 4 fireworks [1] ['Diego Mendoza-Moyers', 'More Diego Mendoza-Moyers', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-06-13 El Paso County is experiencing the most intense drought of any county in Texas and facing an elevated risk of fire – which is why high-flying fireworks in the county won’t be allowed this Fourth of July. El Paso County Commissioners Court this week banned the use of aerial fireworks that feature “skyrockets with sticks” or “missiles with fins” in any unincorporated areas of the county for this Independence Day. Fireworks are completely banned within El Paso city limits. Firework sales are permitted from June 24 through July 4. A graphic from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows the intensity of droughts in El Paso County over time. The county has experienced periods of drought frequently sine 2000, but the intensity has varied widely year-to-year. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) “In conditions where you’re having really low humidity values, really low moisture values in your vegetation, one spark can ignite a fire,” said Heather Gonzales, a program specialist focused on wildfire prevention with the Texas A&M Forest Service, the state’s lead agency responding to wildfires. Persistent drought “leaves the vegetation just very, very susceptible to any spark. And so, with fireworks, fireworks come with sparks,” Gonzales said. Texas counties are allowed to ban aerial fireworks if the county is in the middle of a drought, as determined by the Keetch-Byram Drought Index. But what is the KBDI? The KBDI, which is derived from data gathered at Texas A&M Forest Service-operated weather stations, is a one-day snapshot meant to assess the likelihood of wildfires by grading the level of soil moisture in an area between 0 – which means there’s no lack of moisture in the soil – and 800, which means the soil is absolutely dry. El Paso County on Thursday hit 751 on the drought index, well above the 575 score that triggers an aerial fireworks ban in the county. The KBDI guides local county commissioners’ decision-making on fireworks. But for the Texas A&M Forest Service, staffers gauge wildfire risk by looking at numerous datasets beyond just the Keetch-Byram index, for example humidity levels, wind speeds or precipitation, Gonzales said. “There’s a lot of different factors that we take into account whenever we’re looking at our wildfire potential,” she said. “We only use (the KBDI) as part of the puzzle.” El Paso this year has seen just 0.81 inches of rain as of June 13, well below what’s considered the normal amount of rainfall here. Between 1991 and 2020, El Paso on average saw 1.82 inches of precipitation by this time of year. Learn more 6 things to know about the summer weather in El Paso Temperatures in El Paso last month were 4 degrees warmer than usual for this time of year. The Texas A&M Forest Service puts the risk of wildfire at “moderate to high” for much of far East El Paso County and on the Westside. The current drought in El Paso County is more intense than anywhere else in the state, but neighboring counties Hudspeth, Culberson and Presidio are also experiencing severe drought and have been under burn bans because of the regional drought, Gonzales said. Nationally, about half of all the fire-related emergency calls made July 4 each year are related to fireworks, Gonzales said, so the potential of fireworks-induced blazes on Independence Day is not insignificant. “Once we get closer to the July 4 holiday, we’ll be able to better see wind speeds and humidity levels,” she said. “But it’s much better to spread that awareness well before, so maybe we can encourage people to come up with alternate plans.” El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego on Tuesday said he met with local fireworks vendors who indicated they would not sell fireworks with sticks and fins. The county’s move to ban aerial fireworks made it officially illegal, Samaniego said. And vendors agreed to place dumpsters in the area of East Montana where locals often go to pop their own fireworks, Roger Esparza, chief of the El Paso County Emergency Services District No. 2, told commissioners Monday. The ESD oversees fire response in several unincorporated areas of the county, including around Montana Vista. In past years, county emergency services staff have had to spend tens of thousands of dollars during the dates around July Fourth for traffic control, fire department resources and to clean up firework-related trash left out in the desert. “Not only did they agree to not sell sticks and fins, they also agreed that they would put the dumpster out there to not have a cost to the county,” Esparza told county commissioners. “That way, they’re trying to do their part.” Meanwhile, Doña Ana County Commissioners this week chose not to ban firework sales in unincorporated parts of that county, even though Doña Ana is also experiencing drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Municipalities in Doña Ana County such as Mesilla and Anthony allow fireworks sales, so the county commissioners decided it was moot to ban fireworks sales in unincorporated areas of that county. The Drought Monitor differs from the Keetch-Byram Drought Index. It’s run by a collection of organizations including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Nebraska, and it factors in a wider range of data than KBDI, from precipitation and temperature to local water reservoir levels. Fernando Viramontes, the area manager for TNT Fireworks in El Paso, said the fact July 4 is on a Thursday this year could translate to more people buying and popping fireworks compared with last year, when the holiday fell on a Tuesday. Still, the record heat last summer – when there were 18 consecutive days of triple-digit temps leading up to July 4 last year – led to lower fireworks sales than usual, he said. Weather forecasters expect 100-plus degree heat every day in El Paso through at least the middle of next week, according to the National Weather Service. No rain is expected to fall here in the near-term. “Extreme weather was something that did affect us” last July 4, Viramontes said. “But I’m hoping that the rains will come late June, early July. It makes everybody happy. It keeps the environment a little bit cooler.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/06/13/el-paso-fireworks-ban-drought-index-county-commissioners/ Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/