Rains keep fireworks bans away
By JERRY DANIEL REED / Abilene Reporter-News
Rain won't put a damper on Fourth of July fireworks around
the Big Country.
Not because the National Weather Service predicts no precipitation,
though it does. Rather, the generous rains of the last several
weeks swept away any possibility that fireworks could be banned
or severely restricted outside the area's cities and towns again
this year.
The law giving county commissioners courts the authority to
ban or restrict fireworks applied last year because of a drought,
but definitely not this year.
Many counties, including Taylor, had bans or modified bans
in effect in 1996 to minimize the risk of accidental wild- fires.
After a wet late spring and early summer, though, nothing resembling
a drought now afflicts the area.
"We only have authority to regulate fireworks when there
are drought conditions," explained Taylor County Judge Lee
Hamilton. Last year, Taylor County Commissioners banned the launching
of fireworks from county roads and county road right-of-ways,
and prescribed some protective measures for launches from private
property.
The protective measures included a ban on setting off fireworks
while under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs, requirements
for adequate adult supervision for minors and adequate water available
to douse any accidental blaze, and forbidding launches too close
to structures.
Though county commissioners lack the authority to impose similar
restrictions this year, Ham- ilton urges celebrants to volun-
tarily heed those precautions that were law last year.
"Common sense goes a long way," he explained.
Inside the city limits, you'll find an entirely different ballgame.
In Abilene, for example, the only legal fireworks display on the
Fourth will follow the Abilene Prairie Dogs-Lubbock baseball game
at Abilene Chris- tian University's Crutcher Scott Field.
Cities hold the authority to flatly prohibit private citizens
from buying, possessing or exploding fireworks in town - though
as a practical matter they lack the police manpower needed to
achieve 100 percent success in stopping revelers from setting
off fuses.
Nevertheless, Abilene Fire Department officials warn against
the dangers of unauthorized fireworks launches. Besides the risk
of setting property ablaze and causing injury to people - pre-dominantly
children - legal consequences include a fine of up to $200 and
confiscation of all fireworks in the offender's possession.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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