Branham said that last week’s grass fires on Ecton Road, which were started by sparks from a trailer being towed down the road, raised some concerns about sparks from the fireworks doing something similar.
“We already had some concerns, then the fires we had on Ecton Road last week increased those concerns,” Branham said. “The kindling point of the grasses was so low that when the trailer going down the road sparked, it set fires in several different spots over about a mile. So, we have a lot of concerns.”
Branham said he has fielded several calls from concerned residents living along Ecton Road, about a mile from Lykins Park, who said that in past years they have had remnants of fireworks fall in their yards.
Branham told the July 4 Celebration committee at its next-to-last meeting Monday afternoon that county officials across the state are also considering the possibility of having to cancel their fireworks displays.
“This is a conversation that is occurring in all 120 of our counties right now because they all have some type of July 4 fireworks shows,” Branham said. “There are some that have already canceled their shows and more and more are doing so or postponing them to another date. The only thing that is going to help is some substantial rainfall between now and (July 3) and forecasts don’t look like that is likely.”
Committee members, which includes two city firefighters, all agreed that while the idea of canceling the fireworks show is not appealing, they understand the concerns.
Winchester-Clark County Parks Director Jeff Lewis said the committee will meet again Monday morning to make a decision on the fireworks show, but either way, the July 4 Celebration will go on as scheduled on Tuesday.
“We want the public to know that even if we have to cancel the fireworks show, the veterans ceremony and dinner, concerts and everything else scheduled for July 3 will go on as planned,” Lewis said. “We’ll let everyone know as soon as we know something on Monday.”
Contact Bob Flynn at bflynn@winchestersun.com.
