Oh, say can you see: Fireworks are back
The rockets’ red glare returns this year with a fireworks display that will be shot off Port Chilkoot Dock starting 11 p.m. on July 4.
Last year’s display was canceled due to a problem with getting commercial-grade explosives. The show is back this year, using consumer fireworks that should provide a closer view than previous commercial displays shot from Picture Point.
“It’s going to look a lot fuller. At Picture Point, because of the fire hazard, I can’t do a multi-directional display. (This year’s show) will be like a TV screen that will be filled up,” said pyro-technician Phil Wilde. “It’s going to be multi-directional and multi-layered.”
But don’t expect to see towering shots. Commercial-grade fireworks reach up to 1,000 feet, as opposed to consumer-grade ones that Wilde said he can make reach 250 feet. “You won’t see a high one pop way up there.”
Wilde, who has supervised the local display for 13 years, said the shift to consumer fireworks was caused by difficulties working with the state’s only contractor who provides the bigger shells. Wilde previously bought shells from another contractor who was easier to work with, he said. “It’s crazy hard now to try to get the big shells.”
Using consumer-grade fireworks does not require a licensed pyro-technician and substantially reduces the cost of insurance, Wilde said. “Anybody can put it on.”
Saturday’s show will cost $2,000 and last about 20 minutes, which is standard for a display, Wilde said. “It’s going to be big, exciting and everybody should go.”
The biggest fireworks show in recent memory was a $12,000 display on July 4, 2010, shot for the City of Haines centennial.
Using the dock as detonation site also will reduce fire danger, Wilde said. At Picture Point, nearby vegetation and homes were a concern, he said. This year he’ll have a 2.5-inch fire hose on the dock to quash any possible fires. Also, cardboard will be put down to avoid scorch marks, Wilde said.
“You can’t go wrong, really,” Wilde said.
Wilde, who sells consumer fireworks at Mosquito Lake, said his consumer-grade shows include ones for weddings and divorces. “I haven’t done a funeral but I have one lady who wants her ashes put on fireworks. She wants to be shot up into the sky with her ashes.”