Some Flathead Valley firefighting officials are pleading with the public to refrain from setting off fireworks this Fourth of July and instead attend professional displays, as an unprecedented heat wave creates prime conditions for destructive fires in wildland and urban areas.

"Let the professionals do it," Kalispell Interim Assistant Fire Chief DC Haas said Tuesday. The hot, dry weather enveloping the region, he added, is "a disaster waiting to happen."

Whitefish Fire Chief Joe Page also urges people to attend public fireworks shows like the one at Whitefish Lake — which is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. on the Fourth — rather than play with bottle rockets and firecrackers at home. The Independence Day weekend already promises to be a busy time for local firefighters.

"I'm very worried," Page said. "We have limited resources, and I'm very worried about getting multiple calls at the same time."

People intent on lighting fireworks should take precautions, like having a hose, a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher nearby.

"Use your head and be safe," Columbia Falls Fire Chief Karl Weeks said. "Don't do it in wooded areas and areas with dry grass."

Lincoln Chute, fire service area manager for Flathead County, said people also might consider watering their lawns for an extended period of time before setting off fireworks nearby.

"Give it a good four-hour soaking and you'll really limit the likelihood of that igniting," he said.

FLATHEAD RESIDENTS also should be aware that fireworks restrictions vary by government jurisdiction.

Fireworks of all types are prohibited on state and federal forestlands, in Glacier National Park and within the city limits of Kalispell and Columbia Falls.

In Whitefish, certain "consumer" fireworks may be discharged on paved city streets, not including arterials and collector streets, between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. on July 3, and between 11 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on July 4.

A Whitefish ordinance that the City Council approved in April also prohibits the discharge of all types of fireworks in parks, within 1,000 feet of hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and within 300 feet of gas stations and flammable storage facilities.

Page, the Whitefish fire chief, said the city's tightened restrictions might help matters, but they apply to a relatively small area. His department serves a large area beyond the city limits.

"That's 7 square miles of my 150-square-mile area," he said.

There are no fireworks restrictions in unincorporated areas of Flathead County, though Chute, with the county, warns that downed, dead wood in forested areas is extremely flammable.

"It is extremely dry — drier than typical," Chute said. "If that material gets ignited, it will readily burn."

Assistant editor Chad Sokol may be reached at 406-758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com. Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.