The City of Lubbock’s annual fireworks display at the city’s 4th of July Celebration at Mackenzie Park has been canceled due to the drought and extremely dry conditions in Lubbock. Our buddy Lubbock Mayor Tom Martin made the announcement today on KFYO.

Mayor Tom Martin (mylubbock.us)

Mayor Martin explained why the decision was made, “Shooting off fireworks even with a controlled, professional group, there is still the potential of igniting a fire when fireworks embers fall to the ground.  And with a fire hazard right now, there’s too big of a danger.”

According to official statistics from the National Weather Service, for mid-June, Lubbock is currently 5 inches short of its annual average rainfall total, although it feels more like we're 5 feet short of where we need to be. This is ridiculous.

Other Texas cities are also canceling their fireworks displays. The City of Austin’s display was canceled yesterday and the Austin Fire Department announced they won’t approve any permits for fireworks displays.

The 4th on Broadway street fair and the City of Lubbock’s 4th of July concert at Mackenzie will still go on as scheduled. So you have that, but no fireworks? Bummer. Don't take this the wrong way but the concert seems pointless without the fireworks. The street fair is always fun but after that I'm going to go buy my own pyros and blow some stuff up American style. I'm no fireman but the way I see it if you go out in the country far enough the lack of rain might also help. No rain means no crops, so there's just fields of dirt everywhere. In other words hopefully there's nothing to catch on fire.

But no matter what you do, be careful, don't blow your fingers off. And if you see a fire, whether you caused it or not, call 911 first.

 

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