Boise City Council weighs future of Potato Drop after ‘fireball’ caused injury
Boise City Council this week began its review of the annual New Year’s Eve Idaho Potato Drop and the “fireball” explosion that occurred during the pyrotechnics show, which left windows shattered and a child with serious injuries.
The city is now trying to grapple with what to do to prevent similar incidents, should the event return to its regular home across from the Idaho Capitol.
During Tuesday’s working session, council members discussed the potential for penalties for event organizers in case of problems, as well as the future of fireworks in the city.
Boise Fire inspection showed no issues with fireworks display
According to the Boise Police Department and the Boise Fire Department, the explosion from the pyrotechnics in the show was expected, but the outcome was not.
Boise Fire Department Assistant Chief Romeo Gervais, who spoke at the meeting, said the show was 19 minutes long and had numerous effects, starting with eight liquid fireballs, which caused the large blast.
The explosion shattered three windows at an AT&T-owned building on the corner of Capitol Boulevard and Bannock Street, and cracked two double-paned windows at the Capitol building. Glass from the AT&T building shattered and landed on several people nearby, badly injuring a child who was hit in the face, requiring a skin graft and surgery.
Gervais told council members that the fire department did a routine inspection of the display beforehand and that firefighters were at the site in case of any changes or issues. For each city event with a fireworks show, the department ensures the display is in line with fire safety codes and standards, he said.
Gervais said the display this year was similar to previous ones, and in the past there had been no structural damage nearby. Officials are still not sure why this year’s display caused the glass to shatter.
“Unfortunately, explosions are a little unique, and sometimes difficult to figure out exactly how it reflected or what happened or what was different, and we just don’t know that answer right now,” Gervais said.
A Boise police detective who’s a pyrotechnics expert noted that there were food trucks near the fireworks site that apparently had not been planned for that area initially, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting. He said that “blast pressure waves can reflect off solid objects, such as the ground, buildings, etc. When blast pressure waves reflect off objects and collide with other pressure waves, it can magnify the pressure.”
Gervais said that as Boise grows, with more buildings and structures downtown, the department and the city will need to “appropriately account for that” when making risk assessments on fireworks shows. He added that they will consider more “supplemental engineering calculations.”
“From our standpoint, we will be much more aware of the potential impacts and make allowances for them or disallowances for them,” Gervais said.
City staff cite history of Idaho Potato Drop issues
Boise’s director of community engagement and chair of the special events team, Maria Weeg, gave a presentation on the city’s experience working with the Idaho Potato Drop organizers. Weeg said staffers have had issues with the organizers of the event in the past, and last year was no different.
The special events team has not completed a report of the 2025 Idaho Potato Drop, but Weeg offered findings from previous years as well as what’s known so far.
Discussions with organizers and finalizing a map were “difficult” leading up to the event, according to Weeg, who noted that communication and changes made on short notice are continuing problems.
“I can tell you that our communication and collaboration experience with this has been quite different than other events,” Weeg said.
After police responded to the broken glass and injured girl, an officer informed Idaho Potato Drop CEO Dylan Cline about the situation. According to body camera footage from the conversation, Cline made comments that the Potato Drop would not be held in Boise again, and made disparaging, curse-filled remarks about the city of Boise and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean.
Weeg said the special events team would like “policy direction” on how to move forward if the Idaho Potato Drop is going to be held in Boise again.
The issue, Council Member Jimmy Hallyburton said, is that the city doesn’t have any definitions of violations that the organizers may have committed.
“I don’t appreciate the disrespectful nature that this event organizer has treated our staff and all of our agency partners,” Hallyburton said. “I think we’ve given them a lot of chances, but I also don’t think that we have anything defined.”
Fireworks are OK, fireballs ‘feel a little bit different’
The mayor made it clear that she wants fireworks displays to continue as a staple of events in Boise, but said there need to be “ramifications” if event organizers have had issues consistently.
“This was one event, one operator that has had issues, but we have a history of having had the Millennium fireworks on New Year’s Eve and July 4 fireworks every year, so I don’t want to conflate those two, and prevent rightful and well-done celebrations in our city in the future,” McLean said.
Some council members said the city should look into limits on pyrotechnics displays. Hallyburton said he has no problem with regular fireworks, but large fireball displays could need regulations.
“Explosions and gunpowder and gasoline feel a little bit different to me if they are creating shockwaves that are shattering building windows, and if we’ve got historic buildings all over Boise, public art, wildlife and trees,” Hallyburton said. “I guess I have a little bit of heartburn about explosions in public spaces.”
