This weekend is the annual homecoming celebration at Lebanon High School, and that means a familiar slate of yearly traditions: new sweatshirts for seniors, a class photo, a pep rally and fall sports games. But one tradition will be missing from the schedule this year: the Friday night bonfire.

That’s because fire safety officials say it's too dry in Lebanon to have an open fire. Almost all of the state is in a drought, with Grafton County in particular seeing some of the most severe conditions.

Earlier this week, Gov. Kelly Ayotte issued a statewide fire ban because of the dry weather.

Typically, the senior class at Lebanon High School builds the fire together, collecting hundreds of pallets and painting custom signs. On the Friday night of homecoming weekend, they then encircle th

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