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Town board approves Mitch Jessen to run rodeo fireworks after safety briefing
Summary
After a detailed safety and logistics presentation by Mitch Jessen, the town board voted to approve a volunteer-run fireworks display at the rodeo grounds on the evening of July 3; the proposal includes a safety plan, spotters and coordination with local fire responders.
The Woodruff town board voted to approve Mitch Jessen to stage a fireworks display at the rodeo grounds on the evening of July 3, following a presentation about safety, staging and crowd control.
Jessen, introduced to the board as the volunteer presenter, told members he favored Utah-legal consumer aerials and estimated showtime between about 9:30 and 10 p.m. He said those devices are designed to cool quickly on descent and, with winds under roughly 20—625 miles per hour, are unlikely to send embers into nearby properties. "So if we light them off on that back path right there by the fence, the crowd should be perfectly fine," he said.
Why it matters: The board emphasized safety for nearby livestock and property. Jessen proposed firing from the rodeo back fence to maximize visual effect while keeping fallout within the rodeo footprint, adding that volunteers and spotters would pre-wet nearby hay stacks and that local firefighters would be asked to stand by. He provided a loose cost estimate of just under $7,000 for a roughly 31-minute continuous program if staged as proposed.
Board members pressed Jessen on technical limits and contingency plans. He cited a rule of thumb used in his planning (about 70 feet of separation per inch of tube diameter), noted Utah'legal consumer aerials typically break up lower and cooler than larger licensed displays, and warned that sustained wind above about 20—625 mph would make the event inadvisable. The board also discussed notifying owners of nearby stock and securing a fire-plan that could allow the show to proceed even if county fire restrictions were in effect.
The motion to approve the display was moved and seconded; the board recorded two recorded "aye" votes and the motion carried. The presiding officer said the approval was conditional on standard safety coordination and that staff would confirm details with Jessen and local emergency services before the event.
The board scheduled a follow-up meeting to finalize logistics and asked Jessen to place staged materials in a prepared, locked storage location ahead of the holiday. Jessen said he would provide contact information for on-site coordination and that volunteers from local community groups would serve as spotters and production assistants.
Next steps: Board staff will confirm the town's written fire plan and coordinate with the county and local fire department, verify the staging area and public-safety perimeters, and confirm whether a formal licensing requirement or additional oversight is necessary. If weather or safety conditions change, the board indicated it would cancel or postpone the show.
(Attribution: Quotes and technical details in this article are from Mitch Jessen, the presenter, and statements by the presiding chair and board members during the meeting.)
