OXFORD (WWJ) – As Michigan and other parts of the country deal with poor air quality and haze coming down from the Canadian wildfires, Oxford’s annual Seymour Celebration will be without fireworks this weekend.
The Oxford Fire Department has announced the fireworks, scheduled for Friday and Saturday night, have been postponed due to the current dry conditions.
Southeast Michigan has gone roughly three weeks without any significant rain and Oxford Fire Chief Matthew Majestic says with none in the forecast, holding fireworks displays this weekend posed a fire threat.
“Currently, our area is rated as being between Extreme and Exceptional Drought (the two highest levels of drought),” Majestic said in a statement on the Oxford website. “We felt it was unsafe and posed a high risk of fire if we chose to go forward with the fireworks at this time.”
The Oxford Township Parks and Recreation Department will be working to reschedule the fireworks for a later date.
The Oxford Fire Department, along with many other cities across Michigan, have put a pause on issuing burn permits. Officials say they are not allowing any form of open burning due to the drought conditions.
Several cities across the state have seen fires sparked in the last few days, including a massive backyard fire started by a grill in Grand Rapids. Last weekend a wildfire near Grayling scorched thousands of acres.
The rest of the 15th Annual Seymour Celebration will go on as scheduled, featuring carnival rides and games, Thursday’s classic car cruise, live music on Friday and Saturday nights, and more.
A schedule of events is available on the Seymour Celebration website.
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