By Eric Stock

MACKINAW – There will be no Fourth of July fireworks show in Mackinaw this year.

Fire chief Joe Warrick said he remembers fireworks shows in his hometown going back to when he has a kid, but the Tazewell County village was unable to buy fireworks from their supplier this year.

“The (Illinois State) Fire Marshal has shut them down to where they can’t sell fireworks to us this year and we won’t allowed to shoot them up, therefore we won’t be doing fireworks on the 4th,” Warrick said.

The fireworks company, DCV Imports of Lincoln, lost its license over accounting errors in which 870 pounds of explosives were unaccounted for or lost altogether.

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court in October upheld a ruling from an administrative law judge which said “DCV Imports willfully failed to keep required records of its daily transactions.”

Warrick said the notice from the state came too late for the village to make other plans.

“We’ve got a license through the fire marshal to shoot them up and they hadn’t notified us at all that we won’t be shooting, but I’ve heard if we do, we are employees of the fireworks company and we won’t have insurance so we aren’t going to do it,” Warrck said.

Spokeswoman for the Illinois State Fair Marshall, Leslie Strain, issued a statement that “sponsors of fireworks displays and communities that issue permits should always verify the license status of a pyrotechnic company before contracting or issuing permits.

“We provide as current information as possible on our website regarding currently licensed Pyrotechnic Distributors and Operators. Pyrotechnic Distributor and Operators in Illinois are obligated to inform the OSFM of any change in license status with other state and federal agencies,” Strain said.

Warrick added he hopes to have the fireworks back next year.

Efforts to reach DCV Imports were unsuccessful.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].