Ogden City Fire Chief Mike Slater told the Standard-Examiner that, while residents are able to store fireworks, there are several precautions to take.

“We don’t really monitor what people do with their fireworks, but I think the safe things are to avoid any living areas — under beds, inside closets,” he said. “You never want to put anything that’s flammable near an exit or stairway. You don’t want to leave them in your vehicles during the hot weather — that’s a no-no — or anywhere where there’s an ignition source, so pilot lights or electrical equipment, furnaces, water heaters and stuff like that. And then because of our dry conditions, we don’t want them around combustible vegetation.”

He said proper storage comes down to a few things.

“The recommended storage practices would be to keep boxes sealed — leave them in the original container unopened — put them in a cool and dry place away from any hazards like gasoline, propane, paint, solvents and then just keep them away from children,” he said.

Photo supplied, Ogden City Fire Department

Slater said that he doesn’t foresee the fact that more people will be storing fireworks this year changing how firefighters approach house fires in the coming months.

“We honestly never know what is inside of these houses, and so, we approach every structure — every fire in general — with caution,” he said. “You’d be amazed at some of the things we’ve seen in vehicles that are on fire or in homes or sheds even. It does pose a hazard because it is an accelerant or it is combustible, but we are under caution in everything and every fire that we do.”

He said that, as far as fire goes, with the ban in place, this was one of the quietest Fourth of July periods for the department.

“We had the lowest amount of firework incidents we’ve ever seen in my career here,” he said. “And if you looked over the skies of Ogden on the 3rd and the 4th and the 5th, there was just no fireworks being lit. That tells me that people understood our concern and they obeyed the ban and they did everything within their power to help keep firefighters safe and keep our community safe. So, it was a pretty uneventful Fourth of July, which is what we like to see. Just a huge shout out to our community for everything they did to help us keep our community safe, and because of that, Ogden is a safer place today than it was in the previous holiday seasons.”

Slater said that the department was only summoned to two fires in Ogden directly attributed to fireworks — a trash can that contained improperly disposed of fireworks and a bush fire that was put out by the homeowners by the time firefighters had arrived. This was out of a total of 122 medical and fire-related calls the department received July 3-4, according to a post on the Ogden City Fire Department’s Facebook Page.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s executive order banning the discharge of fireworks expired on July 5. However, officials will be monitoring the situation as the Pioneer Day discharge period — July 22-25 from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. with the hours extended to midnight on July 24 — nears.

“We’re watching the forecast closely,” Slater said Monday. “The Governor’s order covered the July 4th holiday period, and we’re hopeful that rain and moisture in the coming weeks will allow us to enjoy the Pioneer Day celebration with fireworks. We’ll have more information for the public as we get closer to the holiday.”