The man behind the Fourth of July fireworks display for the past 13 years says he’s done with the show.
Resident Phillip Wilde of Wildefire Pyrotechnics said the “drama, politics and stress” of the show aren’t worth the little bit of money he makes from it. Wilde, who also sells fireworks at Mosquito Lake and puts on private fireworks shows, said the latest round of regulation has made a marginal job too much work.
To put on displays here and in Skagway he must secure permits from the U.S. Coast Guard and state fire marshal, and serve as event coordinator, including doing things like arranging to have boats in the harbor moved. The most recent addition to the regulatory burden is a Skagway fire department permit requirement that leaves him personally liable for damage, he said.
“You have to sign a piece of paper that says you’re responsible for any damage, including theirs. They want to be able to take me – not just my insurance company – to the cleaners,” Wilde said this week.
The Haines fire department requirements are less stringent, but he’d just as soon get out of the business entirely, he said.
As operator, Wilde said he earns 10 percent of the amount his contractor and explosives supplier – Fire Art Pyrotechnics of Wasilla – is paid for the show.
The supplier covers his insurance, but Wilde said after he pays for up to eight workers he needs for a show, plus boat fare and lodging, the job doesn’t pencil out. “It’s more of a community service of donating all this money to get things done. The money we lose we donate because we live here.”
Wilde said he’s a licensed pyrotechnician, an accreditation received by taking a test in Juneau. He said he’d continue selling fireworks and giving private shows.