By Shannon Lukens. (Cover photo courtesy Anette Kahn.)
The fireworks up at Steamboat Lake Saturday night didn’t go as planned. “It was an explosion,” according to Karl Bunker who owns the Steamboat Lake Marina.
“We had a group of people on the pontoon boat watching from the water, just like previous years. Once the fireworks started, everybody watched and then we watched basically the grand finale go off except sideways. Immediately everybody gasped and said, ‘Is everybody OK?’ It was an explosion. Everything went off, and it didn’t go up. It went sideways. It went out. You could see it going across the island. Because there were people on the island, that was our immediate thought that the people that were setting the fireworks off, even they are professionals, accidents happened and it looked like something bad happened. We got ourselves off the water as quick as we could, and tried to stay out of everybody’s way.”
VIDEO steamboat-lake-fireworks-courtesy-karl-bunkerOr YouTube Link to video from Karl Bunker
Photo courtesy Betsy Birkinbine.
A few fireworks went off when the show started. But North Routt Fire Chief Matt Mathisen said one firework went sideways, “which pretty much took out the launch pad.” He said that detonated all of the other fireworks at once. They were on a barge next to a little island in the lake. That’s where they’re set off from every year.
Julie Arington is the Steamboat Lake Park manager.
“There was some type of malfunction with one of the fireworks and that malfunction kind of blew apart some of the racks and the control equipment that was controlling the other fireworks. Once that happened, obviously we couldn’t continue the show.”
She said the first goal was to take care of the fire technicians on the island. Three of them were injured. North Routt Fire Chief Matt Mathisen said they had minor injuries that were taken care of on scene. Once they were off the island and taken care of, the park ranger staff cleared everyone from the lake to keep them away from the island which was still burning.
“I think the fire burned itself out. We weren’t going to risk any staff to go out there and try and mess with it because it wasn’t going to go anywhere.”
Chief Mathisen said the good thing about the fireworks at the island is that when they do go off, they all fall into the water. It helps decrease the fire danger.
Arington says Steamboat Lake is closed this morning until park staff can get out to the island and clear up any debris that might be in the water or on the island. Arington says they’ll make sure the fire is out, and they will take down any unfired fireworks that might still be on the island. She says it is easier to do it all in the daylight today.
She says the park service will be investigating what happened.
Zambelli Fireworks is a professionally licensed company that was hired to do the fireworks show. Their website says they are the “First Family of Fireworks — Zambelli Fireworks has mastered the art of creating memorable experiences for large events, small gatherings, and everything in between for over 100 years.” Their corporate headquarters are in Pennsylvania.
“It was crazy to see it and then of course it was pretty scary for the fireworks crew. But one of the guys I talked to said if you do this long enough, things like this happen sometimes.”
Arington says she isn’t sure yet if fireworks will continue next year. It will be something discussed and decided with the non-profit group that organizes the fireworks every year. They’re paid for through donations through FriendsofColoradoStateParks.com. They do fundraising to provide the show which is a longtime tradition in North Routt County.
Chief Mathisen added it was a “bummer that it ended the show so abruptly,” but it was good that no one was injured more. He said it looked worse with the lights and explosion. He also said it’s the first time anything like this has ever happened up at Steamboat Lake.
He said, “It was a sad ending that so many people were waiting for the fireworks and they only lasted less than a minute. It was just a malfunction. Other than that, it was a good 4th of July.”
UPDATE at 11:45 a.m. Sunday — From Jonathan Davenport with the Friends of the Fireworks Facebook page: “Grateful our firework crew are safe. They all managed to get off the island last night with just couple minor injuries. They seem to be in shock but good spirits. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and concern. We are picking up the pieces. Not sure we will ever fully understand what the malfunction was that caused the incident. Glad everyone is okay. And thank you all for your continued support.”