An enormous fire in Colorado burns over 300 homes. Another fire near my hometown in Idaho destroyed 66 homes. A fire to the south of here in Utah burned 10 homes, and another across town claimed three and forced the evacuation of the animal sanctuary where my wife volunteers. The National Intra-agency Fire Center in Boise (the last place we lived) reports 58 wildfires across the country as of yesterday, and the Rose Canyon fire that started here yesterday isn’t even on that list. Forty-six of those fires are in the Rocky Mountain region. (There’s one in Hawaii?!)
Many of them were started by lightning strikes, but most of the ones here in Utah were caused by human interaction. Please, people, it’s very dry and hot out there right now. Let’s be careful out there. If a shell casing can cause a fire, just imagine what your fireworks can do. Use them legally, safely, and sensibly. People shouldn’t have to lose their homes so you can have your illegal fireworks on the Fourth, or so you can do stupid things with the legal ones. Losing some sleep is one thing. Losing your home is quite another.