Michal Nowicki was looking for a panoramic view above Ouray when he hiked near the “Switzerland of America” sign last week. He found it — along with a mess.

Dozens of empty cardboard boxes formerly containing fireworks littered the hillside above the lookout point on U.S. Highway 550 south of Ouray on Tuesday, three months after the Fourth of July fireworks display. The decaying body of a small animal that appeared to be a fox was ensnared in strands of yellow electrical wire used to ignite the fireworks. A handful of plastic water bottles and plastic packaging was scattered across the hillside.

This photo, taken Oct. 7, shows piles of garbage left behind after the Ouray fireworks display three months ago. Photo by Mike Wiggins – Ouray County Plaindealer

When contacted by the Plaindealer on Tuesday and shown photos of the site, Ouray Fire Chief Adam Kunz apologized and acknowledged the items belong to the Ouray Volunteer Fire Department and stemmed from this year’s fireworks show. He said he didn’t know about the trash until he was contacted by the Plaindealer and that he would have a volunteer crew go up “right away” to clean up the site.

“I would like to say yes, it is our mess,” he said.

Nowicki, a resident of Hawaii, contacted the newspaper after visiting Ouray for the first time last week with his partner, Brittani Alexander, and her family. He and Alexander decided to head out early on the morning of Oct. 1 to take in views of Ouray. They ended up at the popular lookout spot south of town, then found a couple of rudimentary dirt paths heading up the hill above the lookout. They climbed the hill and were surprised and dismayed to find the animal carcass, cardboard boxes and other trash.

It wasn’t until they found a Fourth of July poster hanging in the window of a bar downtown that they realized they stumbled upon the site where the fire department usually launches fireworks on July 4 and New Year’s Eve.

“It just seems to be negligent for a city-sponsored function to leave all that stuff,” Nowicki said.

This photo, taken from the hillside across the highway from the “Switzerland of America” sign, shows the launching spot the Ouray Volunteer Fire Department uses most years to set off the fireworks on July 4. Photo by Mike Wiggins – Ouray County Plaindealer

He debated whether to notify the city about what he and Alexander found. He said he didn’t want to be perceived as a nosy tourist telling others what to do.

” At the same time, I feel like this doesn’t match with what Ouray and Colorado stand for in terms of wildlife protection and being mindful of wildfire and dry season,” he said.

The city launched a new tourism slogan two years ago called “Do Ouray Right,” a campaign aimed at encouraging visitors to behave responsibly and protect the backcountry and its natural resources. Others have promoted “leave no trace” principles and asked visitors to be mindful of picking up litter and avoiding activities that damage natural resources.

Kunz said the fire department used the flat spot on the hill to launch the fireworks last July, and they typically collect the cardboard boxes and other trash from the Fourth of July and burn it as part of a live fire training. The department held off this year due to drought conditions, then failed to return to dispose of the garbage, he said.

“We should have hauled it off, knowing there is a drought. That is something I can apologize about,” Kunz said.

This photo, taken Oct. 7, shows the animal that became ensnared in the electrical cord used to set off the fireworks and died. It appears to be a fox but has decomposed significantly. Tourists who hiked to the spot above town for a better vantage point found the garbage and the dead animal. Mike Wiggins – Ouray County Plaindealer

He said he felt “horrible” about the animal that got ensnared in the electrical wire, noting that volunteers normally pick up the wire and wrap it around a series of pipes at the site. He guessed wind may have unraveled it.

“This year we let things get away a little bit more than we should have,” he said, referring to cleaning up the items left behind from the fireworks display.

“I’m sorry for the poor animal. It definitely wasn’t our intent.”