FORT BEND COUNTY BANS THE SALE OR USE OF FIREWORKS THIS SEASON
Fort Bend County, TX-County Judge Bob Hebert signed an order today declaring a local Disaster and prohibiting the sale and use of Fireworks in Fort Bend County effective at 12:01 am on June 24, 2011. The order will remain in effect for 60 hours unless extended by Texas Governor Rick Perry. Judge Hebert has sent a request to the governor to extend the ban through 7:00am, July 5, 2011. If extended by the governor the sale or use of fireworks will be effectively banned for this year’s Fourth of July period. The fireworks prohibition does not apply to municipal or governmental sponsored fireworks displays and does not apply to a privately sponsored display that has been approved in advance by the County Fire Marshal.
County Judge Bob Hebert stated, “Although rain is moving through the Greater Fort Bend Area today, the ten-day forecast predicts an immediate return to drought conditions through July 4 which requires that I take this action in the best interest of public safety.” Fort Bend is experiencing severe drought conditions, with measurements on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index(KBDI) of 727 today. The KBDI ranges from 0 to 800 and is a measure of soil moisture and an indicator of fire potential. A number of neighboring counties and municipalities have banned or are considering banning fireworks this season due to the dry conditions.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW LOCAL DISASTER DECLARATION AND ORDER PROHIBITING FIREWORKS IN FORT BEND COUNTY
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