New Mexico State Senator Dede Feldman's Blog

Join the Drive to Ban Fireworks in Time of Extreme Fire Danger

This is what a forest fire can do.  It’s a photo of the area around Cochiti Mesa after last summer’s Las Conchas Fire.  Although this fire was not caused by fireworks—many others have been, including the one in the bosque in the North Valley of Albuquerque in 2003.  That may be why so many people have signed an on-line petition to allow the Governor and local governments to ban or restrict the use and sale of fireworks in times of high and extreme fine danger.  If you’d like to sign the petition, or see what others have said, go to Ban Fireworks in Times of High Fire Danger.  So far 6,367 people from around New Mexico have signed on in support of my Senate Bill 5.

Last year’s Fire Season May Only be a Warm-Up for this Summer, says Valles Caldera Chief Scientist

Bob Parmenter, Chief Scientist for the Valles Caldera Preserve in the Jemez, where the largest fire in the state’s history burned over 30,000 acres last June, says that we may just be in “half time” before another devastating fire season.

New research shows that we’re in a two-year drought cycle, he says, and La Nina is now setting us up perfectly for more major fires.

 

I hope we can use this “halftime” to give us another tool to fight fires: the ability for the Governor and local governments to ban and restrict the sale and use of fireworks in times of extreme fire danger. If you agree, sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/new-mexico-legislators-ban-the-sale-and-use-of-fireworks-in-times-of-drought.