Doa Ana County clashes with local vendor’s view of ‘Safe and Sane’ fireworks policy

Thousands of Doña Ana County residents are flooding local fireworks vendors ahead of the highly anticipated Fourth of July Holiday.

Many are unaware aerial fireworks are illegal in much of the county, except for Hatch, Anthony and Mesilla.

It’s part of the ‘Safe and Sane’ policy employed by many municipalities across the country.

A local vendor told ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom he doesn’t agree with that rule, although he does run his business in accordance with the law.

“Quite honestly, aerial fireworks are 80% safer than safe and sane fireworks,” said Jimmy Nevarez, owner of Diablo Fireworks in Anthony. “Even though they’re taking them back, aerial fireworks are still safer for them to use.”

Nevarez said, that by comparison, aerial fireworks are less dangerous than sparklers, which could burn hands, and fountains, which can burn bushes.

“Absolutely not,” said Eric Crespin, Interim Fire Chief for Doña Ana County. “Any type of aerial device, anything with a stick, a rocket-type, or fin increases your potential for an accidental fire.”

Crespin said a large fire can inflict much more damage in a community, long-term.

While Nevarez said his staff does his best to educate his customers about the legality of aerial fireworks, ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom found one customer who had no idea what the local laws were.

“Actually, I’m not aware,” said Daniel Duran, a Las Cruces resident, when asked. Duran had purchased about $250 worth of fireworks, accompanied by his young nephews.

“I just know that they are dangerous, but we keep it under control, you know,” Duran said.

“It’s draining on our personnel,” Crespin said. “It’s tiring to have to deal with the public and enforce our ordinances when they are claiming that they did not know any better.”

Crespin said if a potential customer is from Las Cruces, “they should be denied from allowing to purchase the (illegal) fireworks.”

The county will have four patrol units Monday night and eight patrol units Tuesday night searching for illegal fireworks in the county. Both days, his team must cover a little bit more than 3,800 miles.