Which US cities have canceled July 4th fireworks due to fire concerns?
Several cities have canceled their firework displays this year or rescheduled their events for a new date. Supply chain shortages and a high risk of wildfires posing safety problems are among the reasons why.
Firework displays planned for 4 July across the US have been impacted, and in many cases, canceled for a variety of reasons. Motives include shortages of staff due to the pandemic, supply chain difficulties, concerns about wildfires and public safety due to weeks of dry weather and in one case, fireworks had been ordered but never arrived as the company is under investigation.
College Park announced this week that the annual Independence Day firework show and concert has been canceled due to Covid-19′s continued impact on the supply chain. The Fourth of July parade will go ahead as planned, starting at 11 a.m. on Rhode Island Avenue.
Elsewhere in Maryland, two Independence Day firework shows scheduled for 4 July in Ocean City have been cut from the weekend program for similar reasons. The firework company contracted to provide the fireworks has reported labor shortages and it was too late for authorities to find another supplier.
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There will be no pyrotechnic displays this year in Phoenix, Chandler, and Tempe but the sky will be filled with color in other parts of Arizona such as Peoria (9:10 p.m), Gilbert and Scottsdale (admission: $20 per carload).
Four cities in Los Angeles County: Lancaster, Palmdale, Lynwood and La Puente, had hoped to put on firework shows on Monday night but have pulled out after fireworks were confiscated by local authorities. But the show will go on elsewhere in southern California - the blue touchpaper will be lit at Burbank, Glendale, La Crescenta, Long Beach, Marina del Rey, Pasadena, Santa Clarita, Santa Fe Springs, South Gate, Woodland Hills and the Hollywood Bowl.
In Texas, there will be no fireworks lighting up the skies in Boerne and Fredericksburg due to the risk of wildfires. The same will apply to Kendall Couty who issued a disaster declaration on Friday, prohibiting the sale and use of fireworks in the county.
Minneapolis’ firework display won’t be going ahead for the third year running - this time because of staff shortages. Authorities say that the annual Aquatennial Fireworks - a spectacular, fully choreographed pyro-musical involving 10,000 pounds of fireworks which can be viewed on the Mississippi Riverfront, will be going ahead as planned later in the month (Saturday 23 July).
Other cancelations include the Fireworks on the Water display in San Joaquin Valley - a statement read: “Now in our third year of drought conditions, we have had to make the unfortunate decision to not host the annual fireworks show this year. The safety of our guests and being good stewards of the land entrusted to us are our highest priorities and we look forward to bringing the show back in future years, when we are confident it is safe to do so”.
Dry weather means that there will be no firework event at Castle Rock, Colorado - the community has been under Stage 1 fire restrictions since 21 April and likely to be moved to Stage 2, which bans the sale and use of fireworks altogether. Escobar’s Highland Farm in Portsmouth, Rhode Island will be going ahead with their annual fireworks extravaganza - but not on 4 July, the show has been moved to Saturday 16 July.