Gary, I suspect you might not have spent much time in an truly drought-stricken area. Around here, the fireworks restrictions are indeed fire-hazard motivated. Just about any vegetation (or remains of vegetation) can ignite frighteningly fast. I've seen firsthand how easy it is for fireworks to start a fire and nearly burn down a house. We'll just say it involved several of us guys in our 20s and 30s, an illegal 2" commercial-grade mortar that only flew 50' instead of 1500', and a pile of dried weeds next to the neighbor's house. (OK, there was probably beer involved, too.) Fortunately, it rolled off the neighbor's roof before the big explosion of sparks, which should have been 1500' in the air instead of on the ground.
Thank goodness for fleet feet and garden hoses. There was a little smoke damage to the stucco on the side of the garage, but the Porsche 911 in the driveway was unscathed.
Man, things have changed in NM. When I was a little kid living in Demming NM there was a small store across the street from the elementary school that sold fireworks and candy. We bought mostly bottle rockets and would shoot them off all year. That was in the 50's, guess some change is good.
It's a Bernalillo County thing. Some of the other counties have similar restrictions, too. But 30 minutes outside of town, across the county line, there are warehouse stores open year-round that sell firecrackers, M-80s, and aerial rockets. Most of the fireworks restrictions are in the more densely-populated areas, since more people=more potential for a stray firework to start a fire. But back in the '80s, in participated in some epic bottle rocket wars on the mesa just east of town. It's a miracle we didn't start any brush fires.
This time of the year in Albuquerque we still have big tents set up in parking lots all over town selling "safe and sane" fireworks. To my Southern Californian wife, even that seems strange. Fireworks of any kind have been banned in the LA area for so many years, she barely remember when you could buy them (legally).