Some Speaking Out About Fire Risk At MT Rushmore Event

President Donald J. Trump is coming to Mount Rushmore on July 3, 2020 for the fireworks display and this will be the first year since 2009 that they have allowed fireworks to be shot off at Mount Rushmore. In order to get a ticket to the event you needed to get into a lottery system and it costs $1 nonrefundable to enter the lottery. According to the Brookings Register, officials received nearly 5,000 applications requesting nearly 29,000 tickets by midday Friday June 5, 2020. This was the first day you could get tickets for the event which has a maximum capacity of 7,500 people.

Many people will be spending their 4th of July weekend in Rapid City, SD for this event. Many people are excited about the fireworks since this is the first time in many years that they'll be shooting fireworks off and they get the chance to see in person a sitting President. Rapid City, SD is 300.6 miles or four hours 54 minutes from Bismarck, ND according to Google.

According to KX News, a fire expert says the fireworks display is "ill advised" due to the abnormal dry conditions and risk of a summer wildfire. Bill Gabbert is the former fire management officer for Mount Rushmore and six other national parks in the region and he says fireworks shouldn't be shot off due to the extremely flammable ponderosa pine trees.

It will be interesting to see if they keep the event scheduled or cancel it due to the risk of wildfires. Many people would love to go.