Police Hopeful People Remain Safe While At Bandimere Speedway July 4th Events
MORRISON, Colo. (CBS4) - You can hear them from a mile away, but to see them you have to be part of a race crew or be one of the lucky 175 ticket holders who got in. Bandimere Speedway went ahead with their July 4th Jet Car Nationals event and fireworks show on Saturday.
Originally, they were hoping to fill their 20,000 seat venue with race fans, but the Jefferson County Public Health Department stepped in.
County officials asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order capping the event at 175 spectators, forcing the speedway to enforce social distancing requirements and follow restaurant food service guidelines.
Under the temporary restraining order:
- Masks are optional and please be aware that there will be guests not wearing them so make decisions based on your comfort level.
- Please practice self distancing keeping family groups together.
- Every other row in the grandstands will be marked unavailable for seating.
That made Morrison Chief of Police George Mumma's day a little more interesting.
"We're trying to address the town's issues as well as make sure Bandimere's people stay safe."
They aren't enforcing the judge's order, but they are standing by just in case things get weird.
"I prepared for the worst case scenario. We called in as many of our staff as we could to come in on the 4th of July," Mumma said.
Right now, his biggest worry is with only five fireworks shows in the metro area, people are going to flock to the town to park and watch the show.
"I don't want some kid to get out of a car and get hit, so we're trying to enforce no parking along the highway."
It remains to be seen if attendees can coexist happily under the new state health requirements.
"We'll just see what happens," Mumma said.
CBS4's Michael Abeyta reached out to both the speedway and the JeffCo Public Health for comment. Jeffco Public Health said they can't comment on ongoing litigation. The speedway hasn't returned any emails.
By 5 p.m. the number of people had grown since the early afternoon. It is not clear what the county health department plans to do.
