What's a Fourth of July celebration without a fireworks display and the accompanying "oohs" and "aahs?"

Boyle County residents are likely to find out as extreme drought conditions could put a damper on fireworks at the fairgrounds this year.

"It's disappointing to say we ought not to do this, but the risks this year are a little outside our capabilities," said Danville Fire Chief Mike Thomas.

Thomas said he will recommend to the Danville City Commission on Monday that this year's $7,000 fireworks show be postponed until later in the year or canceled altogether.

Thomas said he and other firefighters visited the fairgrounds and adjacent Millennium Park last week and found the grass to be "brown and dormant," so dry it could easily kindle and spread like, well, wildfire.

Riks are too great

"It's not dead. If we get a good soaking rain, it will come back, but we'd have to have a lot of rain to change it," the chief said. "We've got 10 days until the Fourth and I don't see conditions greening up in that short period of time."

The large burst of sparks unleashed up the ignition of a fireworks rocket, a possible misfire and embers floating down after a sky burst all pose significant risks of catching dry ground afire, Thomas said.

The proximity of Boyle County schools and other private property to the fairgrounds make those risks too great, he said.

"There are more risks than we can safely address for firefighters, the public and private property," he said.

Dry conditions already have caused the fire department to stop issuing open-burn permits, and Thomas cautioned individuals to be extra careful if they shoot off their own fireworks this year. He recommended keeping a water hose handy and lighting fireworks only on paved surfaces.

Others plan to proceed

"My preference would be to avoid fireworks altogether this year," he said.

At least two other area fireworks shows will go on as scheduled. The display near Chimney Rock Marina on Herrington Lake is still on for Saturday night, said marina manager Ray Martin.

"Ours is over the water, so we shouldn't have any problems," Martin said.

Liberty's big Fourth of July Celebration, which includes the dedication of the city's new replica of the famed Liberty Bell downtown along with fireworks later at the Central Kentucky Ag/Expo Center, will continue as planned, Mayor Steve Sweeney said.

"We're going to go ahead and have them. We're adjacent to the (Green) river, and we'll have our fire trucks down there and can pump directly from the river, so we believe we've got it covered."