{"id":100369,"date":"2025-12-30T20:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T20:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100369\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T20:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T20:47:11","slug":"can-you-light-fireworks-in-tampa-bay-this-new-years-with-this-dry-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100369\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you light fireworks in Tampa Bay this New Year\u2019s with this dry weather?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A number of Tampa Bay area counties are currently under burn bans, making it illegal to set off personal fireworks while ringing in the new year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Florida <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leg.state.fl.us\/statutes\/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&amp;URL=0700-0799\/0791\/0791.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:law limits;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">law limits<\/a> the use of consumer fireworks to New Year\u2019s Day, New Year\u2019s Eve and Independence Day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some local counties, however, enact their own additional bans. The bans are a response to local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdacs.gov\/Forest-Wildfire\/Wildland-Fire\/Keetch-Byram-Drought-Index-KBDI\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:drought conditions;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">drought conditions<\/a>, and are intended to prevent brush fires and wildfires.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The bans prohibit the setting off of personal fireworks but do not forbid professional firework shows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to the Florida Forest Service, Polk, Manatee, Citrus, Sarasota and DeSoto counties are under local burn bans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties allow personal consumer fireworks for New Year\u2019s celebrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Local officials have advocated for the safe use and disposal of personal fireworks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cFireworks can quickly turn a celebration into an emergency if they\u2019re not handled or disposed of correctly,\u201d Tampa Fire Chief Barbara Tripp said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Florida Sheriff\u2019s Association recently <a href=\"https:\/\/flsheriffs.org\/blog\/entry\/firework-safety-tips-for-floridians\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:published;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">published<\/a> a number of safety tips, including on how to properly dispose of fireworks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Handlers should submerge fireworks completely in water after use for 15 to 20 minutes to ensure they are fully extinguished.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Soaked fireworks should be placed in a metal trash can away from homes, cars or other combustible materials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Duds or unexploded fireworks should also be soaked thoroughly, according to the sheriff\u2019s association guidance. Never try to re-light a dud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Other tips include cleaning up debris, keeping children and pets away from leftover fireworks and reporting hazardous or illegal fireworks to local authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A number of Tampa Bay area counties are currently under burn bans, making it illegal to set off&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[52648,12119,35099,52651,52650,52652,42452,52649,135,1526,9019,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-100369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-consumer-fireworks","9":"tag-dry-conditions","10":"tag-florida-forest-service","11":"tag-hernando-counties","12":"tag-illegal-fireworks","13":"tag-independence-day","14":"tag-new-years-eve","15":"tag-phantom-fireworks","16":"tag-tampa","17":"tag-tampa-bay","18":"tag-tampa-bay-area","19":"tag-tampa-headlines","20":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}