El Paso County Judge To Enact Fireworks Ban Next Week

There won't be any rockets red glare this Fourth of July. El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar is going to sign a disaster declaration on Monday before the weekly County Commissioners meeting to ban the sale and use of fireworks in the County. Escobar says the drought index is expected to reach the dangerous stage this weekend because of triple digit temperatures.

Because the declaration is only good for 60-hours, Escobar will also ask commissioners to for a seven day extension, as well as ask the governor's office to grant an extension through midnight on July 5t. If that doesn't happen, Escobar will issue another declaration on July 2nd to ban fireworks through the Fourth of July.

This will be the fifth consecutive year of a County issued ban on fireworks on Independence Day. The City of El Paso and most outlying townships in the El Paso area also ban fireworks for the Fourth of July, so why does the County ban always freak people out? We do live in a desert, but there are plenty of desert plants that could cause a decent sized fire near homes, so the risk isn't worth it.

Yes, fireworks are fun to shoot off, but until we are out of a drought, chances are there will continue to be bans from the County.