St. George • St. George officials have no plans to enact a ban on personal fireworks for the upcoming Pioneer Day holiday, saying that the city’s current approach to fireworks safety is enough despite the region’s fire danger.

Meanwhile, leaders in other Washington County cities are seeking guidance from the Utah Governor’s Office or scanning the skies before deciding whether to ban personal fireworks for the upcoming July 24 festivities, just as they did for the Fourth of July.

St. George allowed personal fireworks in 19 municipal parks and other designated areas during the Independence Day weekend, an approach city officials say emphasized individual freedom and responsibility and worked out well.

“We applaud our residents for the way they handled fireworks over the 4th of July weekend,” Hughes said in an email. “They had the freedom to celebrate a patriotic holiday while paying extra attention to safety measures.”

City spokesperson David Cordero noted that the city recorded only four fire incidents on July 4, a significant decrease from the typical 10 to 20 fires the department usually handles during the holiday. He said the overwhelming majority of fire incidents typically stem from illegal fireworks or legal ones discharged in prohibited areas, rather than responsible use in designated spaces.

Wait and see

Officials in some other southern Utah cities are waiting for more information before deciding on whether to ban personal fireworks for the upcoming holiday. Washington City Mayor Kress Staheli and Fire Chief Matt Evans said they want more guidance from the governor and state forester before acting.

Staheli said if the governor issues a new guidance on restricting personal fireworks, the city would likely ban them again.

“We are kind of in a holding pattern, just waiting to see,” Staheli said, adding state statute limits cities ability to act unless an emergency declaration is in effect.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s emergency order issued before July 4 also granted the state forester the power to prohibit personal fireworks over the Pioneer Day weekend, if the forester “determines that the extremely hazardous conditions to exist.”

Evans said the city’s Independence Day blanket ban on consumer fireworks was largely successful and widely supported by residents.

Municipal firefighters, he added, responded to 16 medical calls and three small fireworks-related fires on the holiday.

“If it would have been a traditional fireworks night, we would of course have been overwhelmed,” the chief said.

Ivins Mayor Kevin Smith said he is waiting to see what possible monsoonal storms bring before deciding whether to ban personal fireworks like it did for July 4.

“We are hoping for rain to make it safe …, but if we don’t, we will likely ban personal fireworks on July 24th as well,” he said in a text.

Smith is adopting the same approach before deciding to allow the professional Pioneer Day fireworks show to proceed as planned at the Tuacahn Center for the Arts.

“We may cancel if we don’t get sufficient rain between now and then and if it’s anticipated that it would be a red flag day,” said Smith, who is also Tuacahn’s CEO and executive producer.

Washington City also plans to move ahead with its 10 p.m. Pioneer Day fireworks show at Veterans Park, an event Staheli said is longstanding tradition and is “manageable” because it is “professionally done.”

Southern Utah is a hotbed for wildfire danger, with data from the U.S. Forest Service placing Washington County’s risk higher than 97% of other counties. St. George alone exceeds the risk level of 92% of communities nationwide.