Some stocking up on NYE fireworks outside Clark County
Las Vegans are ready to bid adieu to 2020 and ring in the new year.
Glittering Lights at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is planning a fireworks display viewers can watch from their cars.
But with the Strip fireworks show canceled, and the Plaza holding a display but with no public viewing areas – the only remaining option for many Southern Nevadans to see fireworks is if they light their own.
Only fireworks labeled “safe and sane” are allowed to be sold during certain holidays in the county, leaving some to go elsewhere to buy them.
Metro Deputy Chief Kelly McMahill said Tuesday illegal fireworks will “be handled in the same manner that they always are.”
But, she added, “It will certainly not be a priority on this night, right, the priority will be higher level type calls, but if we need to get there we will certainly get there to handle those as well.”
In Pahrump, the Phantom Fireworks store has been seeing a rise in sales ahead of New Year’s Eve.
Travis Williams, Phantom Fireworks’ regional manager for Nevada, said that many Clark County residents are making the trip to the Pahrump showroom to stock up.
“We always think that fireworks themselves are a great opportunity for people to to come together socially-distanced outside,” Williams told the Review-Journal. “People have had a tough year and are excited to push the restart button.”
While the company doesn’t provide numbers, Williams said the Pahrump store, which is open 24/7, has been seeing steady traffic and an increase in sales leading up to New Year’s.
Phantom Fireworks is offering a buy-one-get-two-free deal, which seems to have “really taken hold with a lot of people out here in Clark County,” said Williams.
Some valley-area residents are also driving up to the Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza for fireworks. On Tuesday afternoon, a group of six people browsed offerings, leaving with three boxes of fireworks. Another shopper browsed aisles with a cart, snagging at least two “Up Triple X Firecrackers.”
Mini sparklers ranged from $7 to $15, while fireworks enthusiasts can snag two “MOAB,” which comes with 60 shells and 102 breaks in each set, for $339.
Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Alexis Ford contributed to this report.