County sheriff praises Pleasant Valley Days response, urges Scofield to set local fireworks rules

Sheriff Jeff Wood of the Carbon County Sheriff's Office told the Scofield Town Council on July 14 that the county staffed extensive patrols during Pleasant Valley Days and urged the town to adopt a local ordinance if it wants to ban fireworks inside town limits.

Wood said the sheriff's office "proactively patrolled Pleasant Valley Day celebration in Schofield on July 4 through the sixth" and worked "a total of 17 10 hour shifts" in the Scofield area while other deputies covered roughly 1,400 square miles in the county. He said deputies handled traffic control, campsite patrols, water support for fireworks deliveries, medical and theft calls, and cited several traffic and drug-paraphernalia offenses.

The sheriff told the council the county received complaints about drinking and fireworks and that communications challenges in the area complicate law enforcement. He read parts of a state fire restriction order that bans "discharging or using fireworks, tracer ammunition, or other pyrotechnics devices" on state lands and unincorporated private lands, and said the order does not by itself prohibit fireworks inside incorporated town limits. "So the issue that we have, we have people coming to us and saying, hey, Joe down the street's lighting fireworks. I don't know what you guys did in in your incorporated town if you pass an ordinance against that or not. But until you make that decision, we have no authority," Wood said.

Wood urged the town to involve law enforcement earlier in event planning and offered ways to contact him: office phone at the Carbon County sheriff's office at 240 West Main Street in Price, public-safety dispatch (24/7), or his email, jeff.wood@carbon.utah.gov. He also described redundancy he uses for cell service (a dual-SIM phone) and encouraged organizers to coordinate early with the sheriff's office and other agencies.

The sheriff warned the council that search-and-rescue volunteer availability is declining and that the county may struggle to staff fireworks deliveries to the island in future years. "There could come a day when there's no one to haul fireworks out to the island," he said, urging early planning and volunteer recruitment.

Wood reviewed last year's dance incident investigation and said detectives conducted hours of interviews and reviewed video, but the county attorney declined to prosecute after review. "The county attorney reviewed it from every angle and declined it from every angle," he said.

Councilmembers and residents raised adjacent public-safety concerns: reports of motorists and miners driving at high speeds through town, fast e-bikes, and hot-rod activity. Wood said the sheriff's office will work with state troopers on the state highway and try to corral dangerous driving. He also suggested constructive options for youth who ride fast vehicles, including local race venues.

Why this matters: Scofield's July event is a major local gathering that requires coordination among town officials, county law enforcement, state parks and federal agencies. The county's account of staffing, the limits of state fire restrictions on incorporated areas, and the decline in volunteer resources could affect whether the town can continue its fireworks show and how it manages safety at future events.

Ending: Wood thanked the town for hosting the event and asked officials to invite the sheriff's office into planning meetings next year. "We'd love to be as involved with you as you allow us to be," he said.