Grand County urges visitors to skip fireworks amid extreme fire danger

If your Fourth of July plan in Grand County included fireworks, the safest swap is to leave the sparklers at home. County officials are asking residents and visitors to skip personal fireworks on public land and unincorporated private land as dry fuel, hot winds and holiday traffic converge around Moab, where camping, dispersed overnights, river trips and off-road outings are all part of the weekend draw.

The Grand County Commission unanimously approved the request on June 16, calling it a resolution discouraging July 4 fireworks. It was not a countywide ban, but a voluntary appeal rooted in unusually severe conditions. Moab Valley Fire Department Wildland Division Chief Clark Maughan told commissioners the Energy Release Component was already in the 95th percentile in lower elevations and nearing the 97th percentile in the La Sal Mountains, where fire danger was approaching a 10-year high for this time of year.

The county’s resolution cited prolonged drought, extremely dry vegetation and past years’ illegal fireworks, and the timing lines up with Grand County’s typical highest wildfire-danger window, which runs from mid-June through early July. Recent fires showed how fast trouble can spread. A semi-truck fire on Highway 191 pushed into roadside brush, and early-June fires along Interstate 70 led to arson charges. Officials said any fireworks, if used at all, should be kept far from dry vegetation, vehicles and structures, with water or a hose close by.

Moab is already operating under stricter rules. Ordinance 2026-10, adopted April 28, imposed a temporary fireworks ban in designated areas of the city and remains in effect until April 1, 2027 unless the city council changes it. The city’s restrictions bar fireworks on parkways, public trails and pedestrian paths, within 200 feet of Pack Creek or Mill Creek, within 20 feet of any residence, building, structure or combustible material, and in city parks except the Center Street ball fields.

The county’s warning also fits a wider restriction map across public lands around Moab. The Utah BLM West Desert District put Stage 1 fire restrictions in place June 12 at 12:01 a.m., part of a broader effort to limit human-caused ignitions, which the Bureau of Land Management says are the leading cause of wildfires. For travelers headed into canyon country, the message is simple: this is the holiday to trade fireworks for a quieter night, because one spark in Grand County can change the whole trip.