Burn fears mean skies over Waterfest will be dark this year
STOCKTON - There will be no fireworks at this year's Fourth of July bash, the result of embers falling on festivalgoers last year and regulations that forced the charges to be lofted too low for many to see, officials said.
Stockton Waterfest, which started in 2000 and has drawn crowds of 80,000, will end at 4 p.m. instead of after dark, officials said Wednesday. It still will have games, music and a parade.
Fireworks, however, proved too dangerous, events manager Dino Leonardi and Deputy Fire Chief Dave Hafey said. Development downtown has so constricted the area that crowds came too close last year to the fireworks, and embers fell on the crowd, Hafey said. He knew of no reveler hospitalized but said, "We did have people burn."
The display was problematic not only for those closest to it, officials said. Regulations that restrict the height of any fireworks display based on the amount of open space around it forced the city, which once had its fireworks launched as high as 600 feet, to lob them only about half that high, Hafey said.
That caused several residents to complain they could not see the show from outlying areas, a city spokeswoman said. Some of them rushed into downtown as the fireworks started, causing havoc, Hafey said.
The decision to soak the city's fireworks display was made by a panel of city administrators after two years of deliberation, Leonardi said. The panel, which included fire, police and public works officials, also considered moving the fireworks display to a less congested site but could find no site suitable, Leonardi said.
The decision appalled former Mayor Gary Podesto, who said Waterfest - and a fireworks celebration that preceded it by one year - was the first event to prove downtown could attract a crowd.
"That's a real shame," he said. "Rather than bail on that, I would find a way to make it work."
He said Waterfest without fireworks will be "basically a flop."
City Councilman Clem Lee said the display has been an ongoing problem and that city officials could do only so much to save it.
"Fireworks, apple pie - we'd love to have everything stay the same and just get bigger and better," he said. "But from what I'm hearing, that's not in the works."
Leonardi said Waterfest will not flop and that people still will attend.
Drawing crowds downtown early in the day could spur attendance at the annual parade organized by the Coalition of Stockton Veterans, city officials said. The city intends to spend fireworks savings on other Fourth of July events at Weber Point. It was unclear how much money is involved.
Hafey said it is unlikely that fireworks will disappear from Stockton. The Stockton Ports, for example, can still put on shows, although the baseball team's displays are smaller than the city's were.
"I have a feeling there's still going to be fireworks in Stockton," he said. "They're just going to be smaller shows in different locations."
STOCKTON - There will be no fireworks at this year's Fourth of July bash, the result of embers falling on festivalgoers last year and regulations that forced the charges to be lofted too low for many to see, officials said.
Stockton Waterfest, which started in 2000 and has drawn crowds of 80,000, will end at 4 p.m. instead of after dark, officials said Wednesday. It still will have games, music and a parade.
Fireworks, however, proved too dangerous, events manager Dino Leonardi and Deputy Fire Chief Dave Hafey said. Development downtown has so constricted the area that crowds came too close last year to the fireworks, and embers fell on the crowd, Hafey said. He knew of no reveler hospitalized but said, "We did have people burn."
The display was problematic not only for those closest to it, officials said. Regulations that restrict the height of any fireworks display based on the amount of open space around it forced the city, which once had its fireworks launched as high as 600 feet, to lob them only about half that high, Hafey said.
That caused several residents to complain they could not see the show from outlying areas, a city spokeswoman said. Some of them rushed into downtown as the fireworks started, causing havoc, Hafey said.
The decision to soak the city's fireworks display was made by a panel of city administrators after two years of deliberation, Leonardi said. The panel, which included fire, police and public works officials, also considered moving the fireworks display to a less congested site but could find no site suitable, Leonardi said.
The decision appalled former Mayor Gary Podesto, who said Waterfest - and a fireworks celebration that preceded it by one year - was the first event to prove downtown could attract a crowd.
"That's a real shame," he said. "Rather than bail on that, I would find a way to make it work."
He said Waterfest without fireworks will be "basically a flop."
City Councilman Clem Lee said the display has been an ongoing problem and that city officials could do only so much to save it.
"Fireworks, apple pie - we'd love to have everything stay the same and just get bigger and better," he said. "But from what I'm hearing, that's not in the works."
Leonardi said Waterfest will not flop and that people still will attend.
Drawing crowds downtown early in the day could spur attendance at the annual parade organized by the Coalition of Stockton Veterans, city officials said. The city intends to spend fireworks savings on other Fourth of July events at Weber Point. It was unclear how much money is involved.
Hafey said it is unlikely that fireworks will disappear from Stockton. The Stockton Ports, for example, can still put on shows, although the baseball team's displays are smaller than the city's were.
"I have a feeling there's still going to be fireworks in Stockton," he said. "They're just going to be smaller shows in different locations."