Fire marshal urges caution with fireworks

The New Year’s fireworks-selling season opens Thursday, and Travis County’s fire marshal is asking users to be very cautious.

Travis and several nearby counties have banned certain kinds of winged and flying fireworks and most local vendors have agreed to not sell that merchandise even in areas without a ban. The high winds and low humidity forecast for the first days of the selling season mean a higher fire danger for much of Central Texas.

“We know we’ll have wind and humidity, so the introduction of a small fire such as a firework would be very dangerous,” Fire Marshal Hershel Lee said.

A strong cold front expected to come into Austin by early Thursday has prompted the National Weather Service to declare a wind advisory for the area, predicting winds from 20 to Central Texas counties without the ban include Williamson and Caldwell. Central Texas counties with bans on fireworks with sticks or fins include: Travis Blanco Hays Burnet Bastrop 30 mph and gusts as high as 40 mph.

“Because of our lack of rainfall, dry grasses, gusty winds, and low humidities, the fire danger will be high. ... This will be the driest air of the winter season so far,” Paul Yura, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, said in a news release.

The vast majority of fireworks are shot on New Year’s Eve in Travis County, and Lee asked people to not use fireworks during these early days. He also said he has asked local vendors to not sell Thursday and wait to open until winds calm down.

In addition to windy and dry weather being forecast, Travis and surrounding counties remain under a severe drought. Sunday’s less-than-half-inch rain recorded at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was the most rain the city has seen in more than two months. The sale and use of fireworks is banned entirely in Austin and many other Central Texas cities.

Lee also offered these safety tips:

■ Do not drink alcohol and use fireworks.

■ To detonate fireworks, find a flat surface, away from buildings, dry leaves and grass.

■ Have water on hand in case of a fire.

■ Have an adult supervise when buying and setting off fireworks.

■ Be sure other people are out of range before lighting fireworks.