Extreme drought and wildfire risks across the West are taking the kaboom out of some backyard Fourth of July celebrations, with communities restricting or banning the sale and use of fireworks.
But officials say Independence Day need not be boomless. Instead, they are encouraging people to watch large municipal fireworks displays.
Santa Fe, N.M., banned the use of fireworks and asked stores to voluntarily stop selling them. All complied. The city fireworks show is still scheduled.
"We feel that it's important to curtail people from doing their own shows," said Santa Fe Fire Marshal Ted Bolleter.
Fire risk prompted Albuquerque, N.M., to ban fireworks from wildland areas in the city. Cedar City, Utah, residents are only allowed to ignite fireworks in the parking lots of a park and two high schools.
Meanwhile, the anticipated influx of people into campgrounds and national forests on the holiday weekend is stirring anxiety among land managers.
"We are concerned about the Fourth of July weekend, because of campers and fireworks. We always have a bunch of grassfires and stuff from that," said David Widmark, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland, Ore.
In Las Vegas, police planned to stop vehicles heading to Mount Charleston this weekend to make sure fireworks aren't brought into the popular recreation area, part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
"There's some people who just absolutely believe fireworks won't hurt the forest," said Sgt. Rory Tuggle. "It's dry up on the mountain. There's very little water. The wind's been blowing. The vegetation's pretty dehydrated."
Having fireworks or using them in a national forest carries a fine of up to $5,000 and six months in jail.
Many areas of the West have enjoyed an unexpectedly wet spell in the midst of the long drought, but temperatures are expected to rise and dry weather to return next week, said Nancy Lull, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
"That's going to mean increased risk of fire starts. We would ask that people be extremely careful when they're out in the wildlands to make sure they don't accidentally start any fires," she said.
Still, Laramie County in Wyoming rescinded a fireworks ban because of the wet, cool weather. Neighboring Albany County dropped plans for fire restrictions.
"With the rain we've had the last couple of weeks our immediate fire danger is probably down substantially from where it was," said Bill Crapser, Wyoming state forecaster.
Fireworks are banned altogether in some places in the West. Communities that do allow fireworks, such as Las Vegas, usually only sell the "safe and sane" kind that don't include rockets, firecrackers and Roman candles. Officials restrict where fireworks are allowed.
Taking the bang out of Sunday's celebration has unplanned consequences in some places.
In tiny North Pole, Alaska, money from the annual Gorilla Fireworks stand is supposed to help pay electricity bills at a private school and send its students on mission trips to Mexico.
This holiday, the state fire marshal's office temporarily banned fireworks in the town of 1,600 people just south of Fairbanks. A fire northeast of Fairbanks has tripled in size in recent days, growing to more than 215,000 acres.
North Pole Christian School has held its fireworks fund-raiser for the last 13 years. This is the first year an outright ban has forced it to close its stand, said Rochelle Renner, a teacher whose three children attend the school.
"I can understand it," Renner said of the ban. "I don't like it."
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