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Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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First in 20 years: No fireworks
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · August 03, 2012
For the first time in 20 years, organizers canceled the August fireworks display “due to extremely dry conditions.”
But Hoover’s Hometown Days organizers expressed relief that a laser light show already scheduled for the same night, which was expanded due the uncertain weather, should still excite the crowd.
The fireworks show was introduced by the Hoover Association in 1992 in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Hoover Library-Museum and the dedication of the building’s largest renovation.
Weeks of drought conditions had organizers worried about the fireworks causing a fire and Cedar County enacted a “burn ban” on July 18. The National Park Service, a federal agency, did not have to heed the burn ban but planned to bring in a fire weather ecologist to study the launch site adjacent to the tallgrass prairie.
Park Superintendent Pete Swisher made the final decision to cancel the fireworks.
He said the fire weather ecologist was instead called out to a wildfire and Hoover Site staff consulted with wildland fire specialists, who referred to weather data and asked if there had been any significant changes. Swisher also worked with West Branch city officials and the West Branch Fire Department.
“It would be irresponsible and pose a significant fire safety risk to allow the fireworks show to proceed as planned given these drought conditions,” Swisher said.
Both City Administrator Matt Muckler and Hoover Association Executive Director Becky Allgood said they were disappointed, but agree with the decision. The 2012 display was the first time the cost — about $25,000 this year — was paid by the city.
“I get the sense it wasn’t that close,” Muckler said of the conditions necessary for safe fireworks.
Allgood said this was the first time the fireworks have ever been canceled, but also the first real drought in this area since they started.
“I’d like to thank the Hoover’s Hometown Days team for coming up with the idea for the laser light show, which was already going to be extended anyway,” she said. “It, in and of itself, is a big show.”
West Branch Fire Chief Kevin Stoolman also agreed with the decision, pointing out that a fire broke out Saturday afternoon in the bushes in front of McDonald’s, probably because of a motorist tossing out a still-smoldering cigarette.
“Look at McDonald’s,” Stoolman said. “That is a prime example of how dry it is.”
The NPS posted the announcement on its Facebook page, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The story was even picked up by the Associated Press and republished as far as Omaha, Neb., which Allgood said was “unbelievable.”
She also joked that one weather forecast she read called for a “30-percent chance of isolated thunderstorms” on Saturday. |
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