OCR Text |
Show Fireworks & dry grass play havoc in summer By MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer BOUNTIFUL Independence Day festivities are a little more than two weeks away, but Bountiful firefighters are already wondering if holiday fireworks and dry vegetation will lead to major brush fires. City firemen battle an average of between 100 to 200 grass fires every year. The problem is especially bad in July and August when hot, dry weather bakes the moisture out of underbrush and vegetation and people shoot off scores of fireworks to celebrate the Independence In-dependence and Pioneer Day holidays. "You see it every year. People will be launching bottle bot-tle rockets and all kinds of other illegal incendiary fireworks. Kids play with matches and hikers take to the foothills and mountains, carelessly leaving discarded discard-ed but still burning cigarettes. The result is lots of fires," said Lt. Bob Stell, a public information officer with the Bountiful Fire Department. Possession of illegal fireworks is a Class B misdemeanor, misde-meanor, punishable by up to six month in jail and a $299 fine, but that doesn't seem to bother many people who often are willing to go out of state to obtain the illegal il-legal fireworks. "It's really a big problem around the summer holidays. holi-days. Homeowners think because shrubbery around their home is green it won't bum, so they launch bottle rockets into the bushes and before they know it the whole house is on fire," Stell said. Bountiful firefighters respond to numerous fires started by fireworks every year, but pinpointing who started the fires is difficult. If firemen are able to determine de-termine who started the blaze that person is often held liable for damages. Last year Bountiful suffered almost $600,000 worth of loss due to fire, and the fire loss for 1991 figures is expected to be just as bad or even worse. Only $20,000 of that amount is damage caused by grass and brush fires, but Stell said with all the expensive homes lining the foothills it would take just one grass fire in the foothills to get out of control for loss figures to reach staggering proportions. Stell fears spring rains-almost three times the normal nor-mal amount-will make the fire hazard even worse. "All the moisture we've been getting will cause the vegetation and underbrush to grow even thicker, causing caus-ing an increased fire hazard later on during the hot and dry months. Another potential fire hazard is sagebrush, which is known to secrete a substance that acts like an accelerant similar to kerosene. There is plenty sagebrush and thick grasses this year on the foothills and on pastures. With the onset of hotter weather these areas become a veritable tinder-box tinder-box a fire waiting to happen. Stell said the biggest thing people can do is to be aware of fire hazards and take precautions to prevent them before they happen, a safer and less expensive alternative to paying for the exorbitant damages in life and property after the fact. A common problem is the improper storage of fertilizers fer-tilizers and flammables. Most fertilizers are oxidizers, and homeowners commonly place them in closets and storage sheds next to flammables such as gasoline. The result is often deadly because contact between oxidizers and flammable agents can result in spontaneous spon-taneous combustion. "People just haphazardly throw these things into the storage shed and when they come in contact a lot of times fires get started," Stell said. He advises homeowners to do a little spring cleaning around their homes to ensure flammable agents are away from bum areas such as water heaters and furnaces. fur-naces. City residents are not allowed to start fires, even in their own backyards without a bum permit from the city. A bum permit can be obtained by contacting the fire department. Illegal fireworks are discouraged and officials advise residents to use common sense when using those that are legal. If people are unsure about what is and isnt legal, Stell said the general rule of thumb is that any firework that explodes or leaves the ground is illegal in Utah. It's that simple, he said. |