SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake resident Don Larson sat patiently on the barge as Seeley-Swan Search and Rescue Chief Gerry Connell towed him out into the bay to ignite the 1995 fireworks display over Seeley Lake. Larson worked to position the barge so that he would light the fireworks down wind from the barrels that contained the rest of the evening’s ammunition.
From shore, Mike Baker, a college student in Great Falls, could see Larson positioning the barge. He could see multiple boxes with rockets that would patriotically paint the sky.
“We watched Don as he ignited the rockets and ducked behind the new barrier. The show started early, and the first rockets were loud,” wrote Baker in a letter to the Pathfinder in 1995. “Between explosions, the audience was heard yelling and cheering. A competition began to see which group was the loudest as our cheers carried for miles across the lake’s surface.”
Larson was responsible to launch the few thousand dollars worth of fireworks for the Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce that year. Due to the depth of the bay, Larson was not able to set an anchor and estimates that the water was nearly 100 feet deep. As the show progressed, the barge slowly drifted in the wind, eventually the firework arsenal was downwind from Larson.
From nearly 100 feet away on the search and rescue boat, Connell could see the sparks flying closer to the barrels.
“We knew it was going to happen about three seconds before it happened,” said Connell.
Larson saw the sparks and dove into the water for cover without skipping a beat.
“I wasn’t thinking, I just knew what to do,” said Larson. He claims that his experience as a firefighter prepared his instincts.
“Then it happened,” wrote Baker. “There she goes,” I yelled in horror as I heard my own voice over the sound of a relatively noiseless explosion. A fireball engulfed the barge and filled the sky in front of us.”
From the boat, Connell said it looked like the grand finale of a fireworks show that lasted a mere 10 seconds, though the explosion happened right at water level. He could even see some rockets shooting into the water.
From underwater, Larson described hearing what sounded like a small bomb exploding above him.
“No one asked what had happened, for the tremendous explosion told the story. A tear came to my eye. How could anyone have survived that blazing inferno?” wrote Baker.
“I slowly walked to the end of our dock, to look and listen. When the pontoon boat pulled within feet of the barge a figure ran across the surface of the barge and jumped to the safety of the pontoon boat, He was alive! Yet how badly was he burned? Ten more minutes passed as darkness covered the water. Suddenly, against all odds, another rocket lit the heavens, making the announcement, Don was OK!” wrote Baker.
Larson walked away from the explosion unscathed, he claimed he didn’t suffer any burns or hearing loss.
Baker wrote, “Give our man credit. He did not wait to see the grandest Fourth of July display of all. He dove into the water, which spared his life. And I went to find the donation box to contribute to next year’s Fourth of July celebration at Seeley Lake!”
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