PALMER -- The state's fire situation is so dire even Alaska's fireworks baron plans to take the Fourth of July weekend off.
Robert Hall, a 57-year-old Big Lake businessman famous for his Gorilla Fireworks franchise, owns or manages five businesses in Houston and North Pole. He has spent every Independence Day since 1984 selling pyrotechnics -- until this year.
Nearly 300 wildland fires are burning across Alaska. The 7,000-acre Sockeye fire that started June 14 just north of those colorful Houston fireworks stands destroyed 55 homes. The Card Street fire that started a few days later near Sterling destroyed 11 structures.
The Alaska State Fire Marshal's office suspended all fireworks sales in seven regions last week including Anchorage and Western Alaska, as well as the Matanuska-Susitna, Kenai Peninsula and Fairbanks North Star boroughs.
This year, Hall and his wife are leaning toward spending the usually busy weekend on vacation, taking in Seward's Mount Marathon festivities.
"We've canceled our ads and let everybody know that we probably won't be open. That's what we've been told by the state fire marshal and by the city," he said Thursday. "It just doesn't look like they're going to get enough rain."
City crackdown
Anchorage is beefing up law enforcement patrols for the holiday weekend, and it doesn't look good for the big fireworks display after the Anchorage Glacier Pilots double-header July Fourth.
The Anchorage Police Department plans to announce extra patrols next week as part of a larger public-education campaign with municipal foresters. Higher-risk areas include Eagle River and the Hillside, officials say.
Fireworks are illegal in Anchorage. Going after people setting off fireworks will be a priority, police spokesperson Jennifer Castro said. Violators face confiscation and a $300 fine.
The forests of Southcentral and the Interior remain dangerously dry. Weekend forecasts for rain in the Anchorage area don't currently promise enough precipitation to change that, said municipal forester John See.
See said it would take at least an inch of rain to make a difference. A day of sunshine and some strong winds, he said, and "you've got an instant problem."
It is likely the community fireworks show will be canceled, he said.
Authorities are asking for the public's help.
"We realize this is a very patriotic holiday but there's nothing patriotic about somebody's home burning and there's a lot of people that have lost their homes and everything they have," See said. "We don't want to see a repeat of that. This is very serious because of the fire danger."
Respecting Willow
Assistant state fire marshal Lloyd Nakano said he's checking with the Alaska Division of Forestry twice daily to see if conditions merit lifting or expanding the current fireworks sales suspension.
Any decisions about community displays are on a "day-to-day basis" until July Fourth, Nakano said.
The City of Wasilla has already decided to cancel its display and save the $5,000 budgeted for a show later in the year, when it's safer, said Mayor Bert Cottle.
City leaders didn't want to provide a bad example for residents who aren't allowed to shoot off fireworks, Cottle said. But they also canceled the show out of deference for the fire-worn residents of Willow.
"In respect to the people that lost their places, I just don't think it's fair," Cottle said.
Seward, however, was planning to go ahead with a community display. Seward's city council made that decision this week barring an unfavorable weather forecast, fire chief Eddie Athey said.
The midnight show, conducted by a contractor, involves fireworks shot from a gravel area over the open water of the harbor. Residents aren't allowed to shoot fireworks.
Athey said he'd make a different decision if the city wasn't on the water.
"None of us want to be the cause for yet another wildfire," he said. "We've got plenty going right now."
Focus on fireworks
While fireworks have been blamed by some residents for the Sockeye fire, investigators have yet to announce a cause. Neighbors did hear fireworks in the area the night before the fire began June 14.
But a few also reported two loud explosions just before the blaze took off in early afternoon and said it sounded like someone shooting.
The Alaska Division of Forestry is leading the investigation with the fire marshal's office. Fire investigators met with the Palmer District Attorney's Office this week. No criminal charges have been filed.
Debris burns and campfires cause far more wildfires, but authorities say current conditions warrant the extra steps to make sure fireworks don't spark another conflagration that could decimate homes and potentially lives.
"It's extra-dry in Anchorage," Castro said. "There is definitely concern and fear this year of the possibility of what could happen if fireworks were to get out of control."