There'll be no Fourth of July fireworks at Missoula's Southgate Mall this year, due to the fact that the company that normally provides the show has backed out.

For the last five weeks, Southgate Mall Manager Trisha Shepard has been scrambling, looking for a company to provide a safe, quality fireworks show on short notice in Missoula, Montana. She finally gave up the effort on Thursday and made the announcement - no show this year.

"We got the notice from the company that we've been working with for several years, and they just weren't able to provide a show for us this year," Shepard said. She said the decision had nothing to do with the mall's current renovation and construction project.

"The company cited industry changes," she said. "The expense of covering the insurance, getting products transported, all the same things that we ran into when we tried to put on the show ourselves. Regulations are getting so tough for safety purposes that they just couldn't do it this year."

Shepard said the mall would do an exhaustive search to find a new fireworks show provider in the years to come, but encouraged people to take advantage of the fireworks display at the Osprey Stadium early in July.

"But just because we can't have the show doesn't mean people can take the matter into their own hands," she said. "It's still illegal to shoot fireworks in the city limits."

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