Court declines to authorize optional fireworks sales amid severe drought

Emergency Management Coordinator Clinton Petrick briefed the Lubbock County Commissioners Court on Feb. 23 about statutory deadlines, local drought indices and wildfire risk governing optional county authorization of fireworks sales.

Petrick told the court that under Occupations Code and Local Government Code deadlines (as presented in his memo) the county would have had to act earlier to authorize sales for Texas Independence Day and that, because Lubbock County remains in Stage 2 severe drought and is included in the governor’s disaster declaration for wildland fire threat, his recommendation was not to permit the optional sales. "That's the reason we didn't bring to y'all at the last commissioner's court this issue," Petrick said, explaining the drought-index thresholds and wildfire response posture.

Commissioners discussed the timing for future holidays and the technical KBD (Keetch–Byram Drought Index) thresholds; Petrick noted that the next actionable holiday would be San Jacinto Day and outlined the dates by which the court must consider any restrictions. Several commissioners emphasized transparency and public-safety tradeoffs; one commissioner said the drought conditions make it inappropriate to authorize sales now.

No motion to authorize fireworks sales was offered and the court took no action on Item 24, leaving any future decision to the required deadlines and further staff recommendations.