NM needs to get serious about preventing fires
It’s only April, and it’s already fire season in New Mexico, with blazes around Capitan, Grants and Tijeras. In the Albuquerque metro area, there have already been fires in the bosque and other areas of the county. It’s clear this is likely going to be one doozy of a season.
So kudos to Bernalillo County commissioners for ordering a ban on the use of open fires, campfires and smoking in unincorporated areas of the county. And given the tinder-dry conditions that exist, it’s time for state lawmakers to restore the state’s ability to ban all fireworks, and in the interim for city and county officials to begin considering a ban on the fireworks they’re allowed to restrict.
In 1999 the state Legislature gave up the state’s authority to ban the sale of any fireworks. Almost every year since then, several lawmakers have tried — and failed — to restore it. Municipalities, which gained the authority, first have to declare extreme or severe drought conditions “no less than 20 days prior to a holiday for which fireworks may be sold,” and even then can only ban the sale and use of some — missile-and-stick-type rockets, helicopters, aerial spinners and ground audible devices. They can only restrict the use of everything else that sets off showers of sparks to areas that are paved, barren or have an accessible source of water.
That pretty much puts everyone on the honor system, not the best one for ensuring the state doesn’t go up in flames.
Nevertheless, we urge them to be proactive because we all have too much to lose to potential wildfires.
The National Weather Service is forecasting temperatures in central and northern New Mexico will most likely range from above to well above average for the foreseeable future. At the same time, meteorologists are expecting slightly below to below-average precipitation in April and May.
Mix those conditions with a version of the winds we saw last week, add in some stray sparks, and we’ve got a recipe for disaster in our own backyards.
The fire restrictions that Bernalillo County has already imposed include the prohibition of smoking except in enclosed buildings, within vehicles equipped with ashtrays, and on paved or surfaced roads, developed recreation sites, or while stopping in an area that is barren or cleared of all flammable material. The county’s ban also prohibits campfires and recreational fires and bans heating and cooking fires except cooking or heating devices that use kerosene, white gas or propane as a fuel in an improved camping area that is cleared of flammable vegetation for at least 30 feet and has a water source.
It’s incumbent on everyone to adhere to those restrictions and put fire safety at the forefront, and for our local and state lawmakers to finally take any other steps possible to avoid setting off another avoidable fire.