By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Three fireworks shows have been canceled because of dry, arid conditions and fireworks vendors are having one of their worst years in recent history.
But Cabot, Beebe, Lonoke, Ward and McRae are still planning on having their firework shows, but are taking extra precautions.
Sherwood officials made the decision a week ago to cancel their fireworks display, but their other Fourth of July activities will continue. “We are about safety first,” event coordinator Amy Jackson said.
Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher made a decision Saturday morning to pull fireworks from Sunday’s Patriotic Spectacular and the Pennpointe subdivision’s Fourth of July celebration.
Lonoke County Judge Doug Erwin issued a fireworks ban Tuesday morning for all the unincorporated areas of Lonoke County.
Erwin said the ban was necessary to avoid endangering lives and property during the drought. The ban does not apply to cities and towns in Lonoke County, but Cabot and Lonoke do not allow fireworks use in their cities.
The Patriotic Spectacular still went forward with the rest its activities and entertainment.
Fletcher said he felt like Brett Favre throwing a deep pass at the end of the game. “If I let the fireworks shows go on and nothing happened, I’d be a hero. But if something caught fire it would be the opposite,” he said, adding, “It’s hard to say go ahead when we are telling everyone else not to shoot fireworks. We are trying to teach responsible and canceling the fireworks was the right thing to do.”
Angie Mitchell, the event coordinator for the Patriotic Spectacular, agreed. “I had absolutely no problem with the mayor’s decision.”
She said the football field grass had been watered pretty heavily, but if anything fell outside of the field it could have caused problems. “You can just see how brown and dry everything is,” Mitchell explained.
The Jacksonville Fire Department has already responded to two fires related to the heat, and fireworks may have caused both.
Hundreds of acres of brushy land around the site Jacksonville proposed for the state fairgrounds burned Sunday. The exact cause is still being determined, but fire officials say the dry brush was sparked by something like fireworks or a tossed cigarette.
Across the state, the Arkansas Forestry Com-mission worked 63 fires over the weekend and had its worse June since 1952, responding to 324 fires, which burned more than 4,800 acres.
Last week, firefighters responded to a house on Spring Street where the front door caught fire from being struck with fireworks. The fire was quickly put out and damage was minimal. The blaze happened while firefighters battled a house fire in the Jamestown subdivision caused by a grill fire getting out-of-hand and caused moderate damage to the home according to the fire marshal.
Jacksonville police have had 19 fireworks calls since June 24, but have made no arrests or written any citations. Police Capt. Kenny Boyd said, “We respond, but don’t see anyone when we get there. But we are taking a zero tolerance approach because of the fire hazard. I think most people understand how dangerous the fire situation is.”
Sherwood police and fire officials said they haven’t had a problem with fireworks yet.
Four fireworks stands between Cabot and Jackson-ville sat mostly empty of customers late Tuesday.
Larry and Amanda Cross of Cabot were operators of one stand.
“It’s our second year and you can definitely say it’s our worst year,” said Amanda Cross, who works as a school counselor. “Luckily, we are just the operators, which means we do not lose any money. We share in the profits, if any this year.”
Her husband, who is in sales, optimistically said, “It could always be worse.” Even though sales are down tremendously, both said they do enjoy meeting the people that do stop in. “We are also praying for all the farmers and firefighters right now,” Amanda Cross said.
Things are tighter for the fireworks operator across the street. He’s a general contractor from St. Louis who came down here to make some money because construction is slow this time of the year. Now he’s not sure which is slower, construction or fireworks sales.
Temperatures are forecasted to run between 98 and 102 degrees on July Fourth and remain near or above triple digits the rest of the week. There is a slight chance of showers over the weekend.
Here is a roundup of area Fourth of July activities:
Sherwood
Sherwood’s 13th annual Fourth of July Family Celebration will be at
Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave. at
6 p.m. Admission is free.
Jackson said there would be free hot dogs and water (while supplies last)
. There will also be food vendors with additional items for sale.
Outside entertainment includes Janet, Denise and Bruce and Touch O’Grey. Inside entertainment includes Top of the Rock Chorus and Cornerstone PraiSinger.
There will be free shuttle service from Sylvan Hills High School.
Beside no fireworks, no pets, skateboards, bikes or coolers will be allowed, Jackson added.
Again, there will be no fireworks show because of the weather conditions.
Cabot
Eddie Long, Cabot’s director of operations, said city officials had meetings with county officials and the state fire marshal and will go ahead with their fireworks show, which is part of a Fourth of July program sponsored by Mt. Carmel Church.
Cook said the activities are going to start later this year and that should help with the heat. Activities start at 7:30 p.m. and the fireworks show will be around 9.
“The fire department will have a very large presence at the show this year to be on the safe side,” Cook said.
Lonoke
Lonoke’s fireworks show is part of Freedomfest sponsored by the Lonoke ballpark. This is the first year for Freedomfest and there will be barbecue, music and games as well as a professional fireworks show. Activities will run from 3 to 9:30 p.m.
Beebe
Beebe’s annual fireworks show starts at 6:30 p.m. at the city hall complex. Besides fireworks, there will be family activities, an Elvis impersonator and a performance by Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers.
Ward
Ward’s annual Fourth of July picnic and fireworks show will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the city’s sports complex.
The event will also include a car and motorcycle show. There will be numerous vendors, a tractor pull and music by Midnight Express starting at 6:30 p.m.
The fireworks will commence at dark.
McRae
The First Baptist Church, located at 703 E. Second St., will host the community’s fireworks show tonight.
At 6:30 p.m. a free catfish dinner with all the trimmings will be served indoors. Other activities and the fireworks show will follow.
