New Year's Eve firework bans and restrictions

AUSTIN (KXAN) - People who plan to upstage their neighbors with fireworks might want to think again. Fireworks are illegal in Austin.

"We want to be good stewards of the county so what we do is we a head of time know the environmental conditions," explained Chester Davis, who owns American Fireworks Inc.   "Ahead of time we voluntarily went to the counties and said look, let us pull the stick rockets and missiles from the shelves, we'll keep them out of our stores we'll make sure no one can buy them, can't get them in the hands of the consumer."

The Austin Fire Department put out a reminder to people to not pop off fireworks in the city limits, especially because of the drought.

People can us sparklers, smoke bombs, glow worms & snakes, poppers, trick noisemakers and snappers.  The U.S. Departmentnt of Transportation doesn't consider those items a "common fireworks" and are allowed in Austin.

A Travis County judge banned the sale and use of sticks or fin fireworks until January 13 in unincorporated parts of the county.

People caught popping fireworks in Austin could get up to a $500 fine.  The fire department could also charge someone with assault or arson if someone gets hurt of property is destroyed.