Fireworks Ban Holds Through July 4th

City leaders for Shreveport and Bossier City have agreed to continue the ban on the sale, use,  and discharge of consumer Class C fireworks through the July Fourth holiday.

Here's why the decision was made to uphold the ban:

• The National Weather Service, calling the dry conditions "dire," saw no changes in the hot and dry conditions since the ban was initiated last week or in the foreseeable future - logging no rainfall in the Shreveport/Bossier areas
• Heat conditions to remain hot and dry in the upper 90s and will run into the 100's today through the weekend, "intensifying the dry and hot conditions."
• Northwest Louisiana remains in D3/D4 drought condition
• Northwest Louisiana already 12 inches below normal rainfall at the end of May has received only 10% of its normal rainfall for the month of June
• Yesterday,  soil temperatures 4 inches below the surface of the earth were at 100-degrees in the Shreveport/Bossier area
• With soil being so dry and temperatures so hot, National Weather Service mete0rologists  said,  "it gives the affect that grass/vegetation is baking from above and beneath, therefore creating an environment conducive to rapid fire spread
• Humidity will run below 50% further drying our vegetation and brush.