SILVERTON – This little mountain town is going big with its Independence Day fireworks show.
Silverton’s volunteer fire department is preparing to launch a $31,000 show tonight, capped off with a massive and difficult-to-find 16-inch shell.
The show brings an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 visitors from throughout the Four Corners, as well as Texas and Oklahoma, to tiny Silverton. With the Fourth of July falling on a Friday this year, Silverton officials expect town to be particularly busy.
The fireworks show is overseen by Fire Chief Gilbert Archuleta, who also serves as Silverton’s public works director. Archuleta said Silverton, with an official population of 637, takes pride in putting on a show worth traveling for.
“We wanted it to be one of the best shows around,” Archuleta said.
Archuleta and 26 volunteers will ignite 3,829 shells – nearly six times as many as are in Durango’s show. Beginning promptly at 9:30 p.m., the show will last 30 minutes. Archuleta acknowledged with an air of concern that the show could last up to 32 minutes.
The star of the show is a 16-inch shell. It launches 1,600 feet above Christ of the Mines Shrine Hill, and when it explodes, the ground will shake on Greene Street.
The shell, which resembles a huge onion, is increasingly hard to acquire because imports have been restricted in the post-Sept. 11 era, Archuleta said.
“They’re considered a bomb,” the fire chief said.
Archuleta has been squirreling away the shell for several years, waiting for the Fourth to fall on a weekend.
Silverton may not have another 16-inch shell to fire next year. The Chinese route has dried up, and while American manufacturers have begun making their own 16-inch shells since Sept. 11, Archuleta considers the American-made shells unreliable.
“The results have been mixed,” Archuleta said. “We’re waiting for them to kind of perfect them.”
The 16-inch shells cost about $800 each.
On Wednesday, Archuleta and nine volunteers sorted the fireworks into plastic boxes. The volunteers looked to Archuleta, who was born and raised in Silverton, for direction.
“We all respect him a lot,” said Donnie Curnow, a volunteer firefighter. “He knows what he’s doing, and we do what he says and everything turns out right.”
Archuleta said there had never been an injury among the firefighters during his time in charge of the fireworks show, despite some close calls. One year, a 16-inch shell failed to launch fully, barely clearing the tube before breaking apart.
All of the volunteer firefighters have other jobs. Curnow owns Animas Towing and Recovery. The owner of the town’s only liquor store, Roy Perino, also serves with the fire department.
Silverton’s fire department – now officially the Silverton-San Juan Fire and Rescue Authority – started celebrating the Fourth with a $1,000 show in 1983. That year was the first as chief for Andy Archuleta, Gilbert’s older brother. When Andy moved in 1992 from Silverton to Montrose, Gilbert took over as fire chief, a position he’s held ever since.
The Fourth is a big day in Silverton, and this year’s celebrations feel particularly important. It’s been a tough year for the Silverton economy. A persistent rockslide closed U.S. Highway 550 at Red Mountain Pass for much of the winter, blocking access to Silverton from Montrose and smaller towns to the north.
The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, typically a big draw, was cut short this year, excising Silverton from the route.
More recently, summer tourism has provided a boost, said Amy Dickinson, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.
Silverton last canceled its fireworks show in 2012 because of extremely dry conditions. Archuleta said he’s confident there’s plenty of moisture this year to safely proceed.
“If it’s too dry, we’re the first to say it’s too dry,” Archuleta said.
Many of the firefighters’ wives help by selling T-shirts during and after the Greene Street parade. The T-shirts bring in about half of the needed funding for the fireworks show. Local businesses chip in the other half. Some local businesses have donation jars that ask customers to chip in.
Archuleta requested people don’t shoot their own fireworks during the show, and refrain from driving if intoxicated. Volunteers will be needed Saturday to clean Christ of the Mines Shrine Hill.
Tonight, the volunteer firefighters will move the fireworks from their storage location outside town limits to pre-placed mortar tubes buried in the hillside. None of the show is done by electronics. Runners light the fireworks by hand with fuses attached to sticks.
Before touching off the fireworks, the firefighters will gather and pray, Archuleta said.
“We kneel down and ask the Lord for all of us to come off the hill with all our fingers and toes.”
cslothower@durangoherald.com
