Despite a storm rolling through the area on Saturday evening, both Stroud and Chandler managed to get their firework displays off the ground, albeit a bit early.
The City of Chandler canceled its grand opening of McClanahan Park, which was scheduled to take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. before fireworks at Bell Cow Lake at 10 p.m. It was due to the inclement weather forecasted for that night.
Stroud continued with its scheduled festival in Foster Park, with things kicking off around 5 p.m. The fire department had their slip and slide going, with free hot dogs offered. There were also vendors selling snow cones and kettle corn. The band Loose Gravel played.
When the bad weather started to roll into the area between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., both Stroud and Chandler Fire departments had to make split-second decisions on whether to go early or wait until the next day on the fireworks. Both decided to set them off early, around 8:45 p.m. It can take about four to five hours to set up the fireworks, said Stroud Fire Chief Chris Wilson. Once everything is loaded and wired up, the show has to happen, which is why they set them off early and shortened it in order to beat the fast-approaching storm.
“Wetrytobepreparedfor anysituationbutsometimes these things are out of our control,” Wilson said. He added that they could have taken a chance on waiting until the storms passed, but it would have ruined the set-up with the amount of rain they received.
Chandler Fire Chief Bobby Buchanan said the decision to go early was made jointly between the fire department and the Rainbow Fireworks pyrotechnic team after closely monitoring the rapidly changing weather conditions throughout the day.
Earlier in the day, the forecast had the storms arriving in Lincoln County after 10 p.m., which would have given them plenty of time to do the show as planned. However, the forecast changed, with the storms approaching much faster than expected. With it calling for wind gusts of 80 to 90 mph, lightning and heavy rainfall, Buchanan said they prioritized the safety of those in attendance and the personnel working the event.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this caused. We made every effort to notify the public as quickly as possible, but these decisions had to be made under rapidly changing circumstances while crews were also preparing for the approaching weather,” he said.
He continued that it takes about 10 hours to set up a show of that size and once the fireworks are loaded into the mortar tubes, the show can’t simply be postponed -- if the fireworks get wet, they can become unsafe to fire or unusable. With the forecasted winds, it was unlikely that even tarps and other protective measures would have kept the equipment dry and safe.
In the 20 years he’s been involved with the Chandler fireworks show, Buchanan said this was only the second time they’ve had to start the show early because of severe weather. The last was about 15 years ago, when they shot them off at 8 p.m.
“While these situations are rare, they do happen, and public safety must always come first,” he said. “We appreciate everyone who attended and supported this year’s celebration, as well as the understanding shown by our community. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year for another safe and memorable Fourth of July celebration.”