ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Officials in New Mexico’s largest city are urging people to attend public fireworks displays instead of purchasing fireworks this July Fourth.
They pointed to triple-digit temperatures and dry conditions as reasons for the increased fire danger along Albuquerque’s stretch of the Rio Grande, the foothills bordering the city to the east and the mesa on the west.
City ordinance prohibits the sale and use of all aerial fireworks within the city limits.
Officials say people who purchase illegal fireworks and bring them into Albuquerque are placing the community at risk.
In 2016, the city’s firefighters received more than 2,300 illegal fireworks calls during the July Fourth holiday weekend. More than two dozen citations were issued.
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