Every year, the week leading up to the Fourth of July is one of the busiest and most rewarding times for the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department. 

While many families are making holiday plans, these volunteers are hard at work preparing one of the community's most cherished traditions.

"It is the longest week of the year," Assistant Fire Chief Kat Kittridge said with a laugh. The department begins preparing days in advance after getting the fireworks. "We picked up the fireworks last week and throughout this week we try to spend a couple of hours a day wiring them into the boards and getting everything ready," Kittridge explained. "Our little convoy goes over to the St. Regis Community Park around 8:30 in the evening to set up the caution tape and get everything ready for the performance."

Two years ago, the department upgraded to an electronic firing system operated through a smartphone app. Before that, every firework had to be hardwired to firing boards, a process that took much longer and was more susceptible to misfires. The newer system has made setup more efficient, but there's still no shortage of work. 

The week isn't just about fireworks. Each year, the department also hosts a free community potluck, providing hamburgers, hot dogs, side dishes and desserts for anyone who wants to attend. It's a tradition that has become as much a part of Independence Day in St. Regis as the fireworks themselves. 

"We've been doing the potluck for at least the 21 years I've been here," Kittridge said. 

The department purchases the hamburgers and hot dogs while volunteers prepare the side dishes, salads and desserts. 

"Everybody in the community has always been invited," she said. "We call anyone who's on duty at the Sheriff's Office and tell them to swing by if they can. We invite the Forest Service, Fish & Game, all the fire departments, ambulance crews, anyone who's working. If they can break away, there's food waiting for them."

Preparing the meal is a major undertaking in itself. This year's menu included 72 ears of corn on the cob, dozens of boxes of pasta salad, fresh watermelon, sliced tomatoes, onions and lettuce, along with desserts that volunteers proudly made themselves. Kittridge even contributed a couple of sinfully sounding delicious homemade cakes and four pounds of Jell-O salad. Cold drinks filled coolers, and a 2,500-gallon portable water tank gave children a place to cool off near the grill while families gathered together.

But this year's preparations took an unexpected turn. In the middle of one of their busiest weeks, the department was dispatched to a serious logging accident in the Two-Mile area off Interstate 90. 

The injured logger was trapped on an unbelievably steep mountainside deep in heavy timber. The St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department was the only local first-response agency able to immediately reach the scene. Working alongside personnel from Two Bear Air, Life Flight and Superior Area Ambulance Service, firefighters located the injured man, who had suffered multiple broken bones. 

They helped untangle him from the rugged terrain, secured him in a rescue basket with an EMT who had been lowered by cable from the Two Bear Air helicopter, and then climbed back up the near-vertical hillside to the road. Fortunately, many firefighters were already gathered at the station preparing for the holiday festivities, allowing an immediate all-hands response when every minute counted. 

Once the rescue was complete, they returned to the fire station as there were still fireworks to prepare and a community potluck waiting to be served.

Fire Chief Jerry Dockter reflected on just how long the department has been carrying on the tradition while he was loading chafing dishes onto serving tables. 

"We've been doing the fireworks for...I don't know...25 years?" Dockter said. A volunteer quickly chimed in from across the room. "I got here in 2002 and you guys were already doing them."

The department purchases its fireworks from Northwest Fireworks Display on the Flathead Reservation. Both Dockter and Kittridge are certified pyrotechnicians, allowing the department to produce the entire fireworks show themselves without hiring outside professionals. The result is a spectacular Independence Day display that rivals’ celebrations in much larger communities.

Many people wonder how a volunteer fire department can afford to provide a free meal and professional-quality fireworks year after year. 

"This is all from the compensation payment we receive from doing Hazmat calls and the money we make working wildland fires," Kittridge explained. "We use so much of that income to continue doing these types of things for the community each year." 

Community donations also help keep the traditions alive. During the Fourth of July parade, volunteers walk the route carrying firefighters' boots to collect contributions, and donations received throughout the year often go directly back into community events unless donors request otherwise. 

"Throughout the year we respond to car accidents, fires and things like that," Kittridge said. "People give us donations, and we automatically roll that into our fireworks event unless they want it to go toward something specific."

For the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department, the Fourth of July isn't simply another holiday. It's an opportunity to serve. Whether rescuing an injured logger from a mountainside, feeding hundreds of neighbors at a free community potluck, or lighting up the night sky with a spectacular fireworks display, these volunteers quietly dedicate countless hours to the people they call family and friends. 

"It’s a week of chaos," Kittridge said with a grin stretching from ear to ear, "but it's a blast."

That may be the perfect way to describe the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department itself, a little chaotic at times, always ready when duty calls, and fueled by an unwavering love for their community, their neighbors and their country.