New Orleans bonfires get go-ahead

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NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- New Orleans' traditional Christmas Eve bonfires have been given the go-ahead after being held up because of high water on the Mississippi River, officials said.

The festive fires are traditionally prepared on the parishes' many levees during Thanksgiving weekend, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had banned any construction on levees when the river rose to 11 feet, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Friday.

The ban was lifted Thursday when officials recorded a drop to about 10 feet. The river is predicted to keep dropping, the newspaper said.

Families, who are glad the ban is lifted, began erecting the teepee-like bonfire stacks atop levees.

"It's a social event," St. James Parish President Dale Hymel said. "We're all excited that this long-standing tradition can continue -- and hopefully the river won't come up again."

"It's one of those things," said Phillip Creel, 57, "it leaves a hole in your life and you don't know what you'll do without it."