Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The big boom is back, or at least it’s expected to be.

The annual July 4 fireworks display – canceled last year due to fire danger from drought-like conditions – is scheduled to be lit starting 10:30 p.m. from Picture Point. Viewing is good at points south in Portage Cove.

Fire danger is low, Haines Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brian Clay said this week. “I can’t see it being cancelled with the rain we’ve gotten the past few days. Fire danger hasn’t reached “high” yet this year, even with a few weeks of dry weather we’ve had.”

Clay will make a final decision on July 3.

Retired pyrotechnician Phillip Wilde will ignite the excitment on $2,500 worth of consumer-grade rockets, equivalent to 30-minute shows in recent years, including one last December at the high school track infield.

That show was fueled with rockets left over from last Fourth of July.

Wilde says the winter shows are a big hit because complete darkness makes the spectacle more dramatic, especially when reflected off snow below.

“What you’re hoping for in summer in Alaska is overcast skies and layered clouds, because they make it darker. It’s definitely a lot more noticeable in the dark versus the dusk,” Wilde said.

Even with just consumer-grade fireworks, putting on a show takes preparation, Wilde said. “There’s still some art to it. It’s choreography in terms of patterns of shells, which to put in first and what to light off last. It’s multi-directional and multi-layered.”

Plus, there’s the finale, which typically involves up to 50 shells shot in short succession using a timed fuse.

Wilde apprenticed with a professional pyrotechnician in Big Lake, Alaska, putting on shows for the Alaska State Fair in Palmer and the Iceworm Festival in Cordova. Wilde also operated his own fireworks store in Haines for two decades.

At one time, Haines boasted professional-grade fireworks, but cost, permitting and insurance considerations put an end to that.

Pro-grade fireworks shoot up to 700 feet high compared to consumer-grade at 200 feet, but many spectators don’t appreciate the difference, he said.

“Most people will say that a fireworks show is the best ever because they don’t really remember back to the last one. Unless you’re a pro, you probably wouldn’t really notice the difference. People don’t really compare one next to the other.”

Wilde let his professional pyrotechnician license lapse in 2016 and also recently closed a fireworks stand he operated up the Haines Highway for nearly 20 years. Border closures due to COVID-19, years of high fire danger and other factors made the business marginal, he said.

“It just got to the point where it was no longer profitable. There was no way to keep a fireworks stand going,” Wilde said.

Wilde also paid mostly out of pocket for a fireworks show he put on at 33 Mile for three years. That show started with a tiff with borough officials in 2016 that cancelled the town fireworks.

Wilde said he spent about $3,000 for the highway shows and raised about $300 in donations to defray costs.