City of Albuquerque prepares for Freedom Fourth celebrations

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The city of Albuquerque announced what people can expect at this year's Fourth Freedom celebration at Balloon Fiesta Park. The city shared some reminders for those attending the event and those planning to celebrate at home.

Balloon Fiesta Park is getting ready for the Freedom Fourth celebration on Thursday. There is construction at the park but officials say that will not impact any of the festivities.

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Officials are warning people to just come to watch the fireworks celebration and not do illegal fireworks. The city pointed out the recent Bosque fire and is aware of all the problems the Ruidoso area has been going through because of fires. "It's important for us to protect our natural open spaces and the environment that we all live and love here in Albuquerque," said Samantha Sengel- CAO of the city of Albuquerque.

To invite more people to Balloon Fiesta Park, the facility has added 750 new parking stalls just north of Balloon Fiesta Parkway. Those looking to park, and ride will have a new location at the Northwest Transit Center and Coronado Mall.

"We want to see you joining the city's parties and here on July Fourth," said Shelle Sanchez, Director of the City of Albuquerque Arts and Culture Department.

Despite the weekend storms a lot of Albuquerque is still in level one fire restrictions. "If you are purchasing fireworks outside the city limit there's a good chance that you may be purchasing illegal fireworks," said AFR Deputy Chief Fire Marshall Jason Garcia.

Using previous years, the City of Albuquerque has created a heat map of fireworks to help officials help patrol certain areas. The map shows the biggest problem spots for fireworks last year were in the northwest and southeast parts of town. On the night of July 4th... AFR averages more than 50 outside fires, two structure fires, one bosque fire, several vehicle fires, in addition to more than 300 medical emergencies.

Those who light up illegal fireworks could face a $500 fine or 90 days in jail. Last year, they handed out 123 cease and desist letters. No citations have been written for illegal fireworks since 2018.

"Looks like we are having less calls then we had at this time last year. Hopefully, those efforts that we had last year with the cease and desist are working for us," said Garcia.

Fire officials ask for people reporting illegal fireworks to call 311 and not 911. So far, there have been fewer fireworks calls than this time last year. "We can reserve our emergency response folks at 911 or 242-COPS to respond to our emergencies," said Sengel.

As for the fireworks show itself, it will last roughly 25 minutes and the city says it costs them roughly $80,000.

The city reminds people not to bring their dogs to the park as they will not be allowed to enter.