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On the final Saturday before the Fourth of July, about 60 fireworks vendors lined Anderson Road Southwest on the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.
Dozens of buyers young and old browsed the lot looking for fireworks of all shapes and sizes, everything from Pop-Its to the popular King Cobra explosives with 8-inch shells, testing out their latest purchases behind the stands.
The amount of vendors has fluctuated from year to year, with some holidays seeing more than 100 sellers on the reservation. But decades ago, the tradition on the Chehalis reservation began with one man selling fireworks from a small table on the side of the road. Amil Starr Sr. used to drive to Tacoma to purchase the most popular fireworks at the time, which included Saturn Missiles and rockets.
Starr’s legacy has carried on more than three decades later, as his son, Amil Starr Jr., owns No Fear Fireworks, a lone stand that has stood for more than a quarter century. As most of the other fireworks vendors migrated down the hill, Starr’s stand, despite being isolated from the rest, still draws a steady clientele of buyers. One customer on Saturday used to live near the reservation and purchased fireworks from the stand before moving to Texas, but they returned for the first time in a decade to buy from their favorite stand.
“It’s good to see their faces again,” Starr said. “We’ve been here for 30 years and we’ve had customers from back in the ‘80s come back.”
Starr runs the stand with his daughter Sasha Starr and other family, while, down the road, Sasha’s twin brother Dustin Klatush and family run Mandogg Fireworks and Hawk’s Nest. Klatush, chairman of the Chehalis Tribe, has been helping with his family’s fireworks stands since he was 14 years old. Now, at 42, he is helping his children work the stands.
“It’s about family. Every June and July, our tribe gets together like this and we get to hang out for almost a whole month together,” Klatush said. “It’s like a tradition. It’s a culture that we have. We respect anybody that comes out here to purchase the fireworks from us. It’s our sovereignty.”
Stands offer a wide variety of explosives at comparable prices to those on the market, or even cheaper, as sellers on the reservation do not charge state and local taxes while operating on tribal land. Most stands opened June 1 and will continue selling on July 5, and many sellers operate as early as 8 a.m. and close as late as midnight.
But the owners of family-run stands like No Fear Fireworks, Mandogg and Hawk’s Nest don’t see the long days as work. They view them as a chance to bond with their families and create relationships with customers.
“I get to hang out with my kids, and families bring their families out here. If they want to see something cool, we’ll go back here and light it for them,” Klatush said. “And the people that bring their fireworks, we get to know them face to face too.”
Mandogg is named after Manny “Mandogg” Medina, a longtime friend of Klatush’s who passed away in 2020. Every July 2, Klatush and his family put on a memorial fireworks show at 10 p.m. in memory of Medina, whose nickname is tattooed on Klatush’s left forearm.
The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation also hosts its own fireworks show at dusk on July 4, and Klatush, who will be helping set off fireworks, said this year’s show will be something to remember.
“It’s gonna be big. You’re gonna see a big show. It’s gonna be awesome this year,” he said. “It’s probably gonna be one of the best ones we’ve had in a long time.”
Amil Starr Jr. is proud to help carry on the legacy that his father began, turning a single table of fireworks into a prime destination for buyers around the West Coast every summer.
“If it wasn’t for him doing this, none of this would be happening right now. It’s a fun time of the year. All my kids and my grandkids will still be here when I’m gone,” Starr said.
