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Fireworks sales have fizzled
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Fireworks sales in McMinnville have bombed. Vendors are attributing the slow sales to unusually dry weather and scorching temperatures.“People don’t want to set their house on fire or their neighbor’s house on fire,” said Paul Martin who has operated the fireworks stand at Plaza Shopping Center for 10 years, ever since an ordinance was passed in 2002 allowing fireworks sales in the city limits.Martin’s wife, Joyce, added, “No one wants to leave home when it’s over 100 degrees outside.”Darrell Austin has owned a fireworks stand on Beersheba Street, right past Kingwood Foodland, for 43 years. He said sales are down about 50 percent according to detailed records he has kept for every year he has been in business.Austin also attributes the slow sales to dry conditions and over 100-degree weather.