Juneau blasts into Independence Day with annual firework display

A tradition dating back to the 1800s, the Juneau Fourth of July fireworks provide a vibrant display for the community. For the team of volunteer pyrotechnicians who plan and perform the fireworks show, it is a year-round passion project.

In the afternoon on July 3, the barge from which the fireworks launched was bustling with volunteers putting final touches on the preparation for what they say is Alaska’s biggest fireworks show.

When the fireworks began at 11:59 on July 3, Sigrid Dahlberg and Jason Bluhm were the ones flipping the switches to shoot each one.

“It’s a performance,” Dahlberg said Thursday afternoon. “You’re performing for 25 minutes straight and for an entire community. I don’t think there’s anything else in town that gets as many people watching.”

Dahlberg and Bluhm have both been working on the team that orchestrates the annual show for more than 20 years. They described themselves as the left and right hand of a pianist while shooting the fireworks, coordinating between each other and the script.

“We have a very wacky language,” Bluhm said.

“We do, no one else would understand what we’re trying to communicate, but it works,” Dahlberg agreed.

Due to the delay between when the fireworks are shot and when they explode, Bluhm and Dahlberg have to think ahead.

“You got to kind of split yourself in half and be shooting the plan while you’re watching what you already shot unfold,” Dahlberg said.

From directly below, Dahlberg and Bluhm get a unique view of their show.

“So the primo, prettiest view is from the side and slightly up,” Dahlberg said. “If you’re up on a hill right there, you’re gonna get a great view. But it’s really the coolest view from underneath.”

“It’s the most visceral,” Bluhm added.

These 25 minutes of adrenaline are the product of over a year of preparation. While putting together the current year’s show, Bluhm and Dahlberg are already thinking of ideas for next year’s firework “choreography.”

Dahlberg and Bluhm also draw inspiration from watching videos of big fireworks displays in other cities.

“It’s kind of like music,” Dahlberg said. “You want it to have highs and lows, sort of peaceful little places and then exciting places.”

The creative process operates within technical and practical constraints. The pyrotechnicians do not have complete control over the fireworks that they receive from the distributor. Different fireworks require different amounts of time to launch before they explode.

“So part of what we sit and do, that makes us have to sit up late at night until we’re just kind of in the right mindset, is think about, ‘How do I get five things of different sizes to go off at the same time, when the time it takes to get up there is different for all of them?’” Dahlberg said.

The team adhered to safety standards and conventions in preparation and during the show. No boats can enter a 900-foot radius around the barge during the show, as burning debris can fall. Those volunteers on the barge wore hard hats and other safety gear and stood behind a plywood blast shield.

Due to the technical and practical knowledge required to execute the shows, being a pyrotechnician at the level of Dahlberg and Bluhm involves years of hands-on experience, as well as an intensive licensing exam.

This year, Bluhm estimated 12 volunteers assisted in the project in various capacities. Dahlberg said that people are recruited based on their skill set as needed, recognizing the years of experience required to execute a show confidently.

“We’re trying to make sure we’re bringing in younger people so that this can roll over and continue, because if everyone ages out at the same time, we’re done,” said Dahlberg.

For the pyrotechnician team, the night did not end with the show finale. They stayed on the barge while it was towed back from downtown Juneau to its original location across from Aurora Harbour. Douglas Island Pink and Chum, Inc. owns the barge and uses it to feed net pens full of salmon.

“We don’t get off the barge till 2:30 (a.m.),” Bluhm said. “By the time we get done decompressing and just talking over everything, I usually go home at 7 (a.m.).”

At midnight, the fireworks could be heard echoing off the mountains. People in downtown Juneau watching the show yelled out for an “encore” at each pause, and the pyrotechnicians obliged. At the end of the show, they honked in synchronization with the applause — the barge light flashed white to signal their performance was officially over.

• Contact Natalie Buttner at natalie.buttner@juneauempire.com.