The East Hampton Fire Department-sponsored fireworks show scheduled for Saturday night at East Hampton Village's Main Beach has been canceled.
"It's a combination of everything, and safety will always be paramount over everything," Chief Duane Forrester said by phone early Saturday. "This morning at high tide, the water came all the way up to the dunes. Tonight's high tide is forecast to be a foot and a half higher. The cloud ceiling is supposed to drop, and the surf is going to be picking up."
According to the National Hurricane Center, swells from Hurricane Ernesto, now over Bermuda, have created very rough conditions at the ocean beaches here this morning. As the hurricane moves north and east, away from the island, those swells are likely to strengthen into the evening.
Also Saturday morning, the village closed beaches to swimming, putting up red flags indicating dangerous conditions.
"There's going to be no beach for anyone to stand on," Chief Forrester said. "If we close the parking lots to have people stand there, then we have a parking situation."
The fireworks show was first hosted by the department on July 4 after World War I, according to the department's website. "The fireworks show was the culmination of events in the village that included baseball games and dances and would draw crowds from near and far," the chief said.
Saturday's cancellation is the second time this year's show has been axed by nature. The Star previously reported that it was originally scheduled for the previous weekend, Aug. 10, but was postponed because of the presence on the beach of young piping plovers — a protected species — that had not fully fledged from their nests.
Chief Forrester said they'd try to reschedule for one of the next two weekends. "If we can't get it in by Labor Day, it'll be a wash for this year," he said.
