Jefferson City’s Salute to America is taking extra precautions during the heat advisory
Melissa Houston
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Kmiz)
The annual Salute to America Fourth of July Celebration began Thursday at the Missouri Capitol, and organizers and emergency personnel are implementing extra safety measures to address the heat advisory in effect through the holiday weekend.
The festival will include events for multiple days for the first time since 2022. Organizers said the extra days are to celebrate the 250th anniversary. The event runs through Saturday.
Friday’s event takes places at the Capital Region Ampitheater. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and features a concert and a hot-air balloon glow
On Saturday, the event will begin at 11 a.m. around Capitol grounds and the parade will be moved to 6 p.m. to help participants avoid the heat. Road closures will begin at 5 a.m. on July 4 in the downtown area and will be reopened at 2 a.m. July 5, according to a press release from the Jefferson City Police Department.
Event manager Taylor Wolz said the event is expecting 13,000-15,000 attendees for the entire weekend, and they are preparing to accommodate all of the guests in regards to the heat.
“We are really taking the health and safety of everybody attending the celebration into consideration,” Wolz said.
To manage the high temperatures, the festival will provide two water refill stations, two cooling stations, large misting fans, shaded rest areas, and an air-conditioned bus for travel. The Capitol will also be open to the public this year for indoor cooling spaces.
“We have the Capitol open this year,” Wolz said. “So people will be able to go inside, see all the things that the Capitol has to offer, and cool down a little bit”
For those who want to stay out of the heat, the event will be live-streaming the parade. Salute to America is working with first responder teams to make sure the area is filled with emergency personnel ready to help with heat related illnesses and any other medical incidents.
“We have EMS, JCPD, and several other of our law enforcement and safety individuals that are going to be onsite to help make sure that everybody finds what they need,” Wolz said.
Cole County EMS Chief Eric Hoy said more than 60 first responders from EMS, fire and police departments will be spread out and onsite.
“We have prepared pretty extensively with our public safety partners,” Hoy said. “And we do expect to have a very large footprint at the event.”
They will have static treatment areas set up and their specialized Alternate Support Apparatus Vehicle to help them maneuver through crowds to respond and transport people to treatment centers or, if needed, directly to the hospital.
“It is going to be significantly hot outside and spending any amount of time outside will, you know, create a higher hazard for for heat stress and heat injury,” Hoy said.
Both organizers and EMS personnel urge attendees to stay hydrated and not hesitate to ask for help from any personnel or volunteers of the organization.
“Just hydrating in and of itself is not going to be significant enough to take care of you in these sorts of temperatures,” Hoy said. “We really want folks to, you know, seek shelter, shade, cool off, take moments out of the sun and then continue to enjoy their holiday.”