While Governor Spencer Cox visited the town of Eureka over the weekend following the close call from the Iron Fire, he was asked if the fire would impact how the state approaches fireworks.
“I don't have the ability to ban fireworks in the state, but we're going to be working with municipalities who do," the governor said. "We’re going to be talking to legislators.
"What I can tell you is this is not the year for fireworks."
Certain municipalities do not have the power to ban them across the entire city, only certain areas, while other towns like Stockton do.
Ahead of the July 4 holiday, fireworks sales are set to begin in Utah on Wednesday.
Kate Bradshaw with the Utah League of Cities and Towns said state law limits what cities can do if they are not in high-risk areas.
“Your geography is going to lend itself to being able to use those factors to do a ban that encompasses your whole city, because you're completely surrounded by that wildland interface and mountain ranges,” Bradshaw said. "In the Wasatch Front urban core, we have a lot of neighborhoods that have irrigated lawns and things like that, and you’re into more of the inner valley, and it doesn’t meet the criteria.”
However, some feel the rules should be changed with how dry it has been this year, but that would be up to the legislature to make those changes.
“Right now, we're left kind of with a system where we have to use the laws currently drafted for us, and cities are doing that, cities up and down the state have adopted firework restricted areas," said Bradshaw, "because the risk is great, and that's something that I am concerned about."
