Locals challenge Virginia City fireworks display

Ron Brooks and Ron Shane, speaking on behalf of at least four others, told the commission that during the celebration embers and debris rain down on a large swatch of property northeast of the city center, some of which they live on.

With sagebrush well nourished by winter storms and waist-high cheat grass in the area, residents worry that such a display ominously beckons an uncontrollable fire.

"I want to know what kind of insurance this county has against that," Shane said. "If you want to burn my house down, get out your checkbook."

Commission Chairman Chuck Haynes said the county is insured against damages to private property. The county's insurance agent, Carol Ingalls, said Storey County has up to $5 million in coverage should it be found liable in such a case.

Brooks began organizing the effort after the Silver Terrace Cemetery in Six Mile Canyon burned twice during last year's show.

County Public Works Director Rich Bacus attributes that to bottle rockets, not part of the county-sanctioned display.

Bacus, who sets off the fireworks himself and is licensed by the state fire marshal, said this will be the show's 18th year in Virginia City - and his last.

"I'm tired of this," he said. "If this thing here is going to be an ongoing thing, well, I just don't want to deal with it."

Haynes said the issue was not whether the $12,000 donation-funded display would go on, but whether residents in the canyon felt safe. He proposed stationing a fire crew on vacant property adjacent to Shane's to cut response time in case of a fire.

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