Drought, fire danger prompt crackdown on fireworks in parts of Minnesota

For fear of fire, there will be far fewer fireworks exploding over parts of Minnesota on this dry July 4th weekend.

With drought widespread and deepening across the state, revelers have been asked to celebrate the holiday without home pyrotechnics that could spark deadly wildfires.

About 11% of the state is experiencing severe drought conditions, with 82% in moderate drought and the rest experiencing abnormally dry conditions, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.

The areas of most severe drought are several counties along Minnesota's southern border and to the northwest.

The parched conditions have already led to more wildfires than usual. Since March, more than 1,400 blazes have charred about 35,000 acres across the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Burning restrictions are enacted in a handful of north-central Minnesota counties, including Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Morrison, Wadena, Todd and the southern portion of Beltrami.

No campfires are allowed in those areas unless they are in an established fire ring at a home, cabin, campground or resort. The state is not issuing any burning permits for brush or yard waste. And fireworks are prohibited on public and private lands, as well as in state parks, forests or other DNR-overseen lands.

In addition, the DNR has notified cities, irrigators, golf courses and other big water users that they should expect worsening drought and manage their operations accordingly. The agency has also suspended 19 surface water appropriation permits in the Redeye and Crow Wing river watersheds.

"All of Minnesota is abnormally dry or in a stage of drought," Casey McCoy, DNR fire prevention supervisor, said in a news release. "With trees, grasses and shrubs dried out, it's easy for a spark to quickly become a wildfire."

Relief is not in sight. The hot and dry weather is likely to persist through the rest of July, according to Todd Krause, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional office in Chanhassen.

"It's not normal to be this dry. It's been quite a few years since we've been in drought like this," he said. "Having said that, we do get droughts every so often."

There's a modest chance of showers in the metro area on Sunday night and in the days that follow, but it won't be enough to take the area out of the drought zone. "There is hope for at least some rain, but it's going to take an awful lot of rain to get us back to square one," Krause said.

Rain or no, it will be hot. Highs on Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be in the mid-90s, according to the NWS. Nighttime lows will fall only into the 70s.

For those missing fireworks and bonfires, nature will put on a quieter show — fireflies, which will wink away in shrubs and tall grasses nightly until mid-July.

Alex Chhith • 612-673-4759