Pioneer Day fireworks; caution advised, restrictions in place

ST. GEORGE – With Utahns celebrating Pioneer Day amidst hot, dry conditions, caution is needed to avoid more incidents like Sunday’s fire on the Black Hill in St. George.

Fire restrictions – including those applying to discharge of fireworks – remain in place for unincorporated private and state-owned lands in Washington, Iron and Beaver counties in Utah and in Mohave County, Arizona.

These restrictions includes all of Washington County and lands west of Interstate 15 in Iron and Beaver counties.

Restrictions are also in place for the BLM Arizona Strip District, the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument and the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. For more information see the Arizona BLM fire information webpage.

In addition to state, federal and unincorporated lands, many cities in Southern Utah have banned fireworks or restricted them to specific areas.


For more information, see: Fireworks 101: Legal in your city?


Conditions on BLM land in Utah are very dry, Paul Briggs, District Fire Fuels manager for the BLM Color Country District.

“District-wide, we’re pretty dry,” Briggs said. “We’re close to record-high fuel dryness. It’s extremely important for people to be careful.”

There hasn’t been any measurable precipitation on the west side of the district, Briggs said, and officials are primarily worried about the area west of Interstate 15.

“We also have above average load of fine fuels, our grass crop, that’s all cured out and available to burn. So our probability of ignition is very high as well,” Briggs said.

In addition to state, federal and unincorporated lands, many cities in Southern Utah have banned fireworks or restricted them to specific areas.

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