From the Things that Are Hard to Understand files:
You are not allowed to set off fireworks in Tucson, Arizona. Not even sparklers. Yet every summer the city council allows fireworks vendors to set up tents on parking lots all over town.
As I write, with the 4th of July less than a fortnight away, two large wildfires are burning in Arizona: the Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, the largest wildfire in the recorded history of our state, just beginning to be contained by firefighting forces; closer to home, the Monument Fire near Sierra Vista, about 60 miles from Tucson, where more than 10,000 have been forced to evacuate.
When we moved to Tucson in the late 1990s, everyone told us about the seasonal monsoons, the two rainy seasons that typically come in January and July. And we did experience monsoons, the first two years we lived here. Then, starting in 2000, people began to joke about the word “monsoon” because we were only getting two or three days of rain per season … and since 2007, virtually nothing at all. We’ve moved beyond drought into a condition they’re now calling “extreme drought.”
In anticipation of more fires, the US Forest Service has closed the entire Coronado National Forest to public use, and they’ve closed all the campsites and hiking trails in the mountains around Tucson.
It’s a near 100% certainty that one stray spark or ember could start another huge wildfire, and Tucson is surrounded by dry tinder and brush. Some would say it’s only a matter of time. In light of all this, how is it possible … how is it even conceivable … that Tucson allows fireworks vendors to operate within the city limits?
Of course, even if the city council were to grow a pair and shut down the fireworks tents, we’d still have smoking drivers. If you drive in Tucson … or anywhere in the USA, for that matter … you constantly see other drivers tossing lit cigarettes from their car windows. Have you ever seen a policeman stop and ticket one of these assholes? Ever? Why isn’t this considered a crime? Even jaywalkers get more heat!
Maybe this summer the monsoons will come back. We can always hope, right? Meanwhile, use your ashtray, okay?