--- description: More than 300 fires were started by fireworks last year title: California July 4 Fireworks Risk Sparking Fire as Drought Continues image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [States](/tag/states/) ## States Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # California Towns Cancel Fireworks Over Drought Fears by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 4, 2015 1:30 PM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 4, 2015 1:30 PM CUT [Drought-weary California](http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/california-drought--billions-at-stake-as-farmland-dries-up-421427267534 "undefined") will be extra careful in its celebrations this Fourth of July weekend, with some communities canceling their official fireworks displays and others that used to allow residents to shoot off a few of their own saying not this year. “As we head into the fourth summer of a severe drought, it is more important than ever that everyone use an abundance of caution to avoid sparking a fire,” CalFire director Chief Ken Pimlott said in a release on June 30. Officials statewide have warned of the danger fireworks can pose with more than 71 percent of the state in a … [Read more from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/drought-stricken-california-celebrates-fourth-fireworks-care-n385881?cid=par-time-article%5F20150704 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3945745/california-july-4-fireworks-drought/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3945745/california-july-4-fireworks-drought/"},"headline":"California Towns Cancel Fireworks Over Drought Fears","datePublished":"2015-07-04T13:30:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:57:44.281Z","description":"More than 300 fires were started by fireworks last year","url":"https://time.com/3945745/california-july-4-fireworks-drought/","keywords":["States"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/states/","name":"States"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3945745/california-july-4-fireworks-drought/","name":"California Towns Cancel Fireworks Over Drought Fears"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Science Behind Fireworks and the Galaxy","description":"How do fireworks work? The same way the universe does.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xqifFnsn/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-01T13:49:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xqifFnsn.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3945745/california-july-4-fireworks-drought/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3945745/california-july-4-fireworks-drought/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```