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Only A Handful Of Fireworks Reported Over Hot, Dry Holiday Weekend

Alex Hager
/
Aspen Public Radio

All three counties in the Roaring Fork Valley are under Stage 1 fire restrictions, which meant a prohibition on fireworks over Fourth of July weekend. Sheriff’s offices in Pitkin and Eagle Counties said they responded to a handful of reports involving fireworks, but they were all minor incidents and didn’t result in any citations.

The Pitkin County sheriff’s office said it responded to three reports, all on Saturday, July 4. 

“We did think there were going to be more problems with fireworks over a busy weekend, and we’re pleased that there weren’t,” said Jesse Steindler, patrol captain at the Pitkin County sheriff’s office.

All three counties in the Roaring Fork Valley are experiencing at least “moderate drought,” with some portions of Pitkin and Garfield counties experiencing “severe drought.”

“It’s dry,” Steindler said. “It’s like a tinderbox out there, combined with the breezes that we get.”

In the Roaring Fork Valley portion of Eagle County, which includes El Jebel and part of Basalt, the sheriff’s office responded to six reports of fireworks, all on July 4.

The Garfield County sheriff’s office said it did not have any documented reports of fireworks over the holiday weekend.
 

Alex is KUNC's reporter covering the Colorado River Basin. He spent two years at Aspen Public Radio, mainly reporting on the resort economy, the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, he covered the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery for KDLG in Dillingham, Alaska.