It’s that time of year for fireworks but because of the recent fires and dry conditions, there has been fire restrictions set in place to protect property and people.  Carbon County Commissioner Tony Martines took time to talk about fire restrictions within the county.

Typically, the Energy Days celebration is held at the Carbon County Fairgrounds in conjunction with the Fourth of July holiday but this year the event had to be canceled. “We are following the state guidelines, we think that is prudent and seeing that the fires that we’ve had in the area, we just think that’s the smart thing to do. So we are not going to be holding the Fourth of July firework show. I know some people get a little bit upset over that, they just want a tradition and keep it going but it’s just not safe to do it,” stated Commissioner Martines. The dry conditions around the area pose as a fire hazard and it was not long ago that there was a fire near the fairgrounds earlier in the year that almost ran into the Westwood homes.

“As I said earlier our Emergency Responders have just been worn out. They’ve been working their guts out and a lot of time away just helping with this fire. So last year when we didn’t have such dry conditions, we actually had eight fires that night. So eight fires that our limited crews have to go around the county and help put fires out, this year we just didn’t even want to tackle that,” said Commissioner Martines. Local fire departments have assisted with the Bear and Bennion fires when they were needed.

“We really encourage those we know the kids love them and the kids at heart really love fireworks but this is just not a good year for it. I see the tents are set up for firework sales, they’re probably going to happen but please let’s be wise, let’s take a break from fireworks, and I hate to see anybody lose any revenue, I’m not trying to push that but our burn conditions are so high right now, that we’ve got to take our time and be wise with this,” pleaded Commission Martines.