The city of Ouray intends to proceed with a professional fireworks display on the Fourth of July, with plans to enact several precautions in light of fire restrictions that have been in place for weeks and a brutal drought that has withered southwestern Colorado for more than a year.
City Administrator Silas Clarke told the Plaindealer Wednesday the Ouray Volunteer Fire Department will put on a smaller show Sunday that will not feature the larger mortars typically shot off during the annual displ...
The city of Ouray intends to proceed with a professional fireworks display on the Fourth of July, with plans to enact several precautions in light of fire restrictions that have been in place for weeks and a brutal drought that has withered southwestern Colorado for more than a year.
City Administrator Silas Clarke told the Plaindealer Wednesday the Ouray Volunteer Fire Department will put on a smaller show Sunday that will not feature the larger mortars typically shot off during the annual display. He said several measures are in place to reduce the risk of fireworks igniting spot fires, including applying water to the area where fireworks will be lit and having the Ridgway Volunteer Fire Department on hand.
The plan to carry on with a display is based on Ouray continuing to receive rain as it has the last several days. But there is a caveat, Clarke said: If the city experiences back-to-back days between now and Sunday with no moisture, the show will be canceled.
As of Wednesday, the forecast from the National Weather Service calls for a chance of rain each day through Sunday in Ouray and high temperatures ranging from the mid-70s to the low 80s.
Ouray is setting up for a show even as Silverton and Telluride have canceled their fireworks displays, citing the ongoing drought, which remains in the extreme category. Local, state and federal agencies enacted Stage 1 fire restrictions, which prohibit fireworks except for professional displays, in and around Ouray weeks ago.
Asked what factored into the city’s decision to have fireworks, Clarke said the soil moisture content in Ouray and the rain the city has received in the last week.
Clarke said the city proceeding with a fireworks display during Stage 1 fire restrictions is “not unheard of.” He said Fire Chief Adam Kunz told him he’s aware of at least six occasions in which the city shot off fireworks on the Fourth of July during Stage 1 restrictions.
Ouray County Sheriff Justin Perry, however, said he is maintaining fire restrictions in unincorporated parts of the county and won’t allow any fireworks — professional or personal — to be ignited. That means the city, which has traditionally set off Fourth of July fireworks from an overlook in the county off U.S. Highway 550, is moving its display to an area within city limits just to the north of the traditional site.
“I am not willing to take the risk at this time to allow the possibility of a fire,” Perry told the Plaindealer Wednesday.
He said he based his decision on a meeting Wednesday morning with officials with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control who told him moisture data show fire danger on the valley floor remains at a high level.
He said 16 fires have ignited in the last week in a region that includes Ouray, Montrose, San Miguel and Hinsdale counties. That includes a fire on the Alpine Loop in Hinsdale County that was started by an off-highway vehicle.
“Even at these higher elevations we’re still seeing fires,” Perry said.
Ultimately, he said, he believes he’d be taking a “great risk” to allow fireworks in the unincorporated part of the county.
“We have to weigh the risks and what these risks could mean, and I am not willing to put any of our citizens or their properties at risk,” he said.