Posted: June 8, 2011 - 12:52am
Stephen Spillman / Amarillo Globe-News
A fireworks stand sits near charred grassland Tuesday in the 2300 block of Tascosa Road. Area counties such as Potter County have put a ban on the sale of fireworks.
By 
Severe drought conditions have prompted at least five Texas Panhandle counties to temporarily ban the use and sale of fireworks.
Potter, Carson and Armstrong counties each enacted a 60-hour disaster declaration Tuesday. Those counties then sent their declarations to Gov. Rick Perry, who has the authority to extend up to 30 days the period the orders are in effect.
The counties want to keep the orders in place through the July 4 holiday, said Lucy Nashed, a Perry spokeswoman. Parmer and Hall counties also sent declaration requests to Perry, Nashed said. Perry has already granted Hall’s request.
“We’ve received a number (of requests) already, and several have been approved,” Nashed said, adding that Perry approved seven declarations Tuesday morning.
Randall County has made no disaster declaration, Judge Ernie Houdashell said.
National Weather Service figures show that the first five months of this year is the driest period Amarillo has experienced since the agency began collecting local weather data in 1890. Amarillo has received .68 of an inch of rain this year, far less than the roughly 9.3 inches the city received by this time last year. The second driest January-June period occurred in 1953, when the city received 2.8 inches of rain.
“We’re at 6.23 inches below normal,” weather service forecaster Justyn Jackson said. “So compared with last year, there’s a big difference.”
The drought, strong winds and high temperatures have fueled wildfires that have burned 43,713 acres in Potter and Randall counties this year, said Kevin Starbuck, emergency management coordinator for Amarillo, Potter and Randall counties. This year’s fires have destroyed 82 homes and 145 sheds and outbuildings, he said.
“But (the acreage) doesn’t count fires such as the one (last month) that started in Deaf Smith and spread into Randall,” he said. “So, that number (the acreage) is probably significantly higher than 43,713 acres.”
Potter is taking all the steps it can to prevent wildfires, said Dave Kemp, first assistant to the county attorney.
“I doubt that you would even get permission to do a controlled burn under these conditions,” he said, adding the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality can issue permits allowing controlled burns.
The disaster declarations and burn bans only affect the parts of Potter County outside Amarillo because the city has ordinances that ban the use of fireworks and regulate outdoor burning.
While Randall has no declaration in place, it is planning to talk about the drought problem with Texas lawmakers, said Houdashell, who will be in Austin today.
“We’ve got a serious fire situation, and I’m going down to talk to a couple of legislators,” he said.
Weary firefighters and residents worried about the threat of wildfires may welcome the disaster declarations, but those who sell fireworks say they are being singled out.
Weary firefighters and residents worried about the threat of wildfires may welcome the disaster declarations, but those who sell fireworks say they are being singled out.
The declarations are unfair because they make no consideration for other activities that can start wildfires, said Joe Daughtry, president of the Texas Fireworks Association, which lobbies for fireworks vendors.
“Our association has done a lot of background research, and the fireworks in this state have proven to be safe,” he said. “They go up in the air and they are designed to break up in the air, and the sparks are designed to break up before they hit the ground. Less than 1 percent of most fires in Texas come from fireworks.”
Daughtry said the counties that made disaster declarations should consider banning outdoor smoking, barbecuing, driving, welding and other activities that have been known to start wildfires.
TFA figures show the state’s fireworks industry generated about $95 million in 2008, the latest year figures were available. Daughtry said the state has about 4,000 fireworks vendors.
While understanding of Daughtry’s view, Armstrong County Judge Hugh Reed said counties can only address activities the state allows them to ban.
“(Daughtry), he’s exactly right, but we can only do what the Legislature authorizes us to do,” Reed said. “For me, in these present conditions, I want to take every legal means to prevent a fire from happening.”
Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates a fireworks ban can be fined up to $1,000 or be confined up to 180 days in jail.
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