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Well, Katy Perry, for your information Florida does feel like a paper bag. A dry, worn out paper bag that could catch fire at any moment and cause millions of acres of forest to go up in smoke thanks to the drought.
According to The Palm Beach Post, while firework sales are up in pretty much every other state, they’re slagging here in Florida.
“It’s the biggest fireworks holiday in the country,” William Weimer, vice president of Phantom Fireworks tells The Post. “We do consider ourselves corporate citizens of Florida, and we are concerned about what happens. We understand that there are more important issues than selling fireworks.”
Weimer wouldn’t disclose how far sales have dropped in Florida, but noted it was the only state with significant sales drop offs.
This season’s modest rain fall has dried up large portions of Florida. About 25 percent of the state is now considering to be in “exceptional” drought status, with the hardest hit areas being from Palm Beach County up through the Treasure Coast. Though, even the northern portion of Miami-Dade falls into the area of exceptional drought status.
Fears of starting a fire during this already active wild fire status seems to be keeping customers away from the fireworks tent this year, and many cities will be patrolling the use of illegal fireworks with extra caution.
So far, three counties have even banned the sale of all fireworks.
However, most public firework displays — you know with the good boom! boom! boom! stuff and not just backyard sparklers — are still scheduled to go on.
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