(Seguin) — Guadalupe County is planning for a hot dry summer and that means limiting some of those fireworks used in your Fourth of July celebrations.
A warning issued two weeks ago has now turned into an order for an outdoor burn ban and a county decision to prohibit the sale and use of aerial fireworks with sticks (sky rockets) and missiles with fins in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Patrick Pinder, the Guadalupe County emergency management coordinator and fire marshal, says things are going to start to dry out pretty quickly and prompted county officials to make the decision now.
“With the fireworks season coming up, just like we’ve seen in the past, I think in 2020, we issued a restriction on skyrockets, sticks basically missiles, fins, things like that. The fireworks order would go into effect today (for 30 days),” said Pinder.
He says by statute, counties have the authority to limit the use of these fireworks if the KBDI (Keetch-Byram Drought Index) reaches a certain threshold. He says the KBDI is relied on heavily to determine how dry and dangerous conditions are in an area.
“So, the county can restrict all fireworks if it’s over the 550 or if it’s 500 and we have a burn ban, we can restrict the sticks and fins. So, they’ll be able to do the small fireworks and things like that just anything that goes aerial and that will just be our office during the inspections, verifying that the vendors don’t’ have them in the stands and they are not selling those. There are 32 fireworks in the county,” said Pinder.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher says prohibiting certain fireworks on top of ordering an outdoor ban are always tough decisions, but he says it’s a decision that takes everyone into consideration.
“It’s another tough conversation commissioners where we have had this happen multiple times in the past. We definitely don’t want to be in a situation where we are trying to take anybody’s fun away for the holidays and celebrating however they choose but at the same time from past situations we have seen in this county and why the entire statue in my opinion is there through there in the state is because of these hot dry conditions – all the aerial fireworks, potential serious events and fires that can affect a lot of people and a lot of property, it is a tool for us to use and consider which we have done before here in Guadalupe County,” said Kutscher.
According to Pinder, dry and dangerous conditions also continue around the county forcing other communities like Bexar County to take similar steps.
Although burning trash in a barrel is still allowed under the outdoor burn ban order, officials warn that individuals do it as safe as possible. With it also being an unseasonably windy season, officials warn that things can get out of control quickly if not careful. The National Weather Center, according to Pinder, has also issued heat advisories going well into next week. He says those 100-degree days will no doubt be adding to the already hot, dry and unsafe conditions throughout the county.