All About that Boom

Tribal lands are once again a destination spot for fireworks sales

Former addicts trying to stay clean are peddling high explosive fireworks inside a big tent on the Pojoaque Pueblo—in the name of God and Fourth of July fun.

It's the third year that members of the Rock Christian Fellowship in Española have been hawking fireworks on the sovereign nation, hoping to raise enough money this year to start a Christian radio station.

Each year, the proceeds go back into the church's programs, whether it's stocking the food pantry, creating more beds for the homeless or, in this latest inspiration, broadening its audience on the airwaves.

"We've got the software. All we need to do is buy the tower," says Daniel Arellano. The church pastor reports he sold $40,000 in TNT merchandise in the first four days the tent was open.

Arellano says he hopes to clear $150,000 or else he's got to haul it all back to the warehouse in Albuquerque, where it then goes all the way back to Lubbock, Texas, its starting point.

"Hey," Arellano adds, with a sudden burst of patriotism, "it's our God-given right as American citizens to blow off fireworks on the Fourth of July. This is 'the land of the free.'"

Every year, there is money is to be made in the home of the brave, especially on tribal lands in Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties—the same places where citizenry often flock to for inexpensive gas and cheaper smokes by the carton, or to gamble.

Now it's their turn, seasonally speaking, to become that mecca for the more volatile fireworks that, by law, cannot be sold anywhere else in the state.

The lighter, small scale versions—the snakes, the sparklers, the caps—you'll find at big box stores. But if you want the heavy duty artillery, the stuff that reaches high in the sky similar to city-sponsored fireworks shows, then the reservations are often your best bet.

But just because they're offered for purchase nearby doesn't make them legal in the city of Santa Fe, points out Jan Snyder, assistant fire chief. He says anything that reaches higher than 15 feet into the air, is self-propelling and goes "boom" is considered illegal.

Yet enforcing that rule is easier said than done.

"From a boots-on-the-ground perspective, it's just not possible," Snyder says. "Someone will light them off, a neighbor will complain, we'll drive into the neighborhood, and as soon as they see the fire engines, they're gone. They're history."

In past years, the fire department toed the line when it came to enforcing the restrictions because the drought was so severe and the slightest ember could cause a forest fire, not to mention taking out a house or starting a grass fire if the conditions are ripe, he says.

But this year, due to a very wet spring, virtually all fire restrictions have been lifted across the state, which means fireworks entrepreneurs are rubbing their palms in anticipation of profitable returns.

"Just make sure you always have a bucket of water nearby and a fire extinguisher," says Jerry Jaramillo, 63, the owner of Furious Fireworks, located next to Nambé Travel Center on the Nambé Pueblo.

Jaramillo has been making a buck off temporary fireworks stores since 1989, and he's got an opinion on the inherent dangers, from the lost fingers to the errant embers.

"Fireworks don't cause the problems," he says. "The people using them cause the problem. So use caution."

If it sounds familiar, it's because gun rights advocates use the same phrase, in a line of business that could be described as distant cousins, attracting both responsible and irresponsible users.

Arellano, the pastor, says he's getting customers from as far as Pueblo and Trinidad, Colo. Fat cats who own cabins in the Centennial State are also making the trek south so they can hold their own fireworks show and won't have to rub shoulders with the rest at some public event, he says.

Which brings us to this year's big local show, held at Santa Fe High School at dusk, says Reynaldo Gonzales, the city's fire marshal, who will be working to make sure it goes off without any problems.

"We strategically wet down the area where the fireworks will be falling to avoid any spot fires," Gonzales says, adding that city firefighters will also be on hand and performing what he called "fire watch."

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