Alternatives to Juneau’s traditional July 4 fireworks show are being considered by city leaders due to safety concerns after a mishap on the barge they were being launched from two years ago, but Assembly members on Wednesday approved proceeding with this year’s show as usual if the volunteer operators from past years are willing.
The answer to that is still to be determined, Sigrid Dahlberg, a licensed pyrotechnician who’s helped put on the show for the past 25 years, said in an interview Thursday. She said the concerns raised by city leaders aren’t entirely accurate as described and an attempt is being made to shift legal liability from the city to the people launching the fireworks.
“The thing is everything has been moving along fine for 50 years under the old model,” she said, noting she plans to discuss the matter with the other volunteers about whether to go away with this year’s show.
If the group declines, the alternatives discussed during an Assembly’s Finance Committee on Wednesday night included seeking another operator such as a professional fireworks business to conduct the show, or putting on a different event such as a drone show. However, city officials said such options could cost significantly more at a time when money is tight and there may not be time to go through such an official contracting process before July 4.
The fireworks show that began just after midnight on July 4, 2023, was disrupted partway through when some fireworks detonated just above the barge they were being launched from in Gastineau Channel. Dahlberg said such incidents occur perhaps “every five years or so,” but Deputy City Manager Robert Barr told the Finance Committee “that really was kind of the triggering event” prompting scrutiny from city officials.
“That made me and some other (city) staff really look at how we were managing that process, really out of a concern from a risk point of view,” he said. “And we drew two conclusions. One, that we we believe we do have significant risk exposure because of how we conduct that particular process. And that our historical — and up until now, current — practice isn’t in line with our procurement code. So those are two separate, but I would say equally important, challenges that we are trying to overcome.”
An attempt to resolve the situation was made last year by asking the people putting on the show to form or partner with a local nonprofit organization that would have the authority to sign a Memorandum of Agreement assuming legal liability, Barr said. Part of the agreement with the City and Borough of Juneau would include asking the Assembly to provide extra funds, in addition to those provided for the fireworks show, to cover anticipated insurance and other related costs that would be involved.
“They’re just a group of volunteers that volunteer their time for the betterment of the community, and do something that we all get to enjoy and watch,” Barr said. However, “we can’t issue an MOA to an individual. We have to issue an MOA to an organization.”
Dahlberg said the city is sponsoring the show and therefore should also be responsible for the insurance costs. She said the proposed agreement would also put an extra burden on the volunteer crew which “already donates thousands of hours to putting on the show for free,” either by being responsible for their own nonprofit or being subject to the control of an established organization.
“If we did that, then we have a regulated activity that suddenly falls under the control of someone who has no understanding of it,” she said, noting the fireworks shows involve numerous regulations, precautions and operational duties requiring expertise.
Dahlberg said there has never been an incident resulting in legal liability claims during her involvement with the fireworks show. She said the 2023 incident involved a lifting charge failing to send pyrotechnics to their intended height.
“We flipped a switch and that one went off — it just went off lower than it should have,” she said. “This happens. Something like this happens about once every five years…When you look at the thousands of shots that we shoot they’re generally pretty reliable, but now and then you get one where that happens.”
CBJ’s general liability insurance contains a $350,000 deductible and a commercial fireworks vendor provides a $2 million insurance policy that covers claims against the company, Barr said. He said while CBJ’s likely liability would be the $350,000 deductible if a catastrophic incident occurs, such events can also affect the insurance rate the city would pay in the future.
Assembly members unanimously approved a motion by Mayor Beth Weldon to pursue an all-options approach that starts with asking the current volunteers to do this year’s fireworks show.
“I’m counting on them to be wanting to do it,” she said. “They’ve done it for many, many years, and I think they enjoy doing it and it’s a good way to give for them to give back to the community. But if they decide they don’t want to do it then we’ll have to change rapidly.”
But any alternative might not be rapid enough for this year, Assembly Member Maureen Hall said.
“I think if they declined to do it this year, as sad as it may seem, we would just have to say to the community ‘Sorry, it’s not going to happen this year because we didn’t have enough time to move forward with an alternative plan that was cost-effective,’” she said.
Options for future years could involve either a local or out-of-state commercial fireworks operator, or a show where a large number of drones are used for synchronized aerial displays, but both would almost certainly cost far more than the roughly $50,000 CBJ spends on the current show, Barr said.
Assembly Member Wade Bryson said while such options are worth evaluating, Juneau residents and officials have long accepted the existing circumstances and risk of the traditional fireworks show, and it should continue for at least one more year.
“I do not want to be part of an Assembly — of any Assembly — that denies this city the Fourth of July fireworks,” he said. “I do not think that that would be a wise move on our part as an Assembly. I think we can do both — do it this year and get it fixed so that we don’t harm anybody moving forward, including the city.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
