County bans sale, use of aerial fireworks ahead of July 4 celebration

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The Kendall County Commissioners Court Monday came within two inches of reinstituting a countywide burn ban.

The two inches refers to Sunday night and Monday morning precipitation that brought some relief, however slight — enough to delay the inevitable, a return to a countywide burn ban.

Instead, the commission unanimously voted to ban the sale and use of a certain class of airborne fireworks ahead of the June 24-July 4 sale period throughout the county.

Without significant amounts of rain within the next two weeks, Fire Marshal Brady Constantine told the commission he would be back at their next meeting, ready to activate the burn ban.

The fire marshal’s office regularly polls the fire chiefs at its seven departments to gauge dryness and fire conditions throughout the county.

Reaching the 500 mark on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, used by the U.S. Forest Service to assess the risk of fire, means a return to the burn ban.

The county is right at that mark again, Constantine told commissioners as the weekend’s rain dropped the number, but only slightly.

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Christina Bergmann made the motion to ban the sale of a certain class of fireworks — thins, sticks and missiles — that present the biggest threat of accidental fires.

That motion was amended to include “the use of” these drought-dangerous aerial fireworks.

All fireworks stands receive permits through the fire marshal’s office, Bergmann said. “That’s when they are informed, ‘You cannot sell thins, sticks and missiles.’

“They are advised at that time they cannot sell those, so they are not supposed to have them at their stands,” she added.

Fireworks banned by the county include such favorites as bottle rockets — “All those that, once you light it, you can’t control where it goes,” she said.

Bergmann said she attended Monday’s meeting fully expecting a return to the burn ban.

“Because of the fact I knew we had a couple of roadside fires, and with the extreme heat ... I was expecting us to put it on,” she said. “But with the rain, and the fact the county judge can put it back on at any time, we went with the vote as presented by the fire marshal.”

She said Constantine regularly polls all the fire department chiefs “and we lean heavily on what the chiefs and the fire marshal recommend.”

Constantine said his office will continue to monitor fire activity in the county.

“We don’t do it based on precincts, we have to look at the county as a whole,” he said. “Our mission is saving lives and protecting property.”

Constantine said his office “saw the biggest flare-up in vegetation fires along roadways this past weekend, more than we have in the past several months.”

If the area receives substantial rainfall over the next few days, the county will consider removing the ban. Constantine said his office will recommend the removal of the ban on restricted fireworks if weather conditions change over the next few weeks.