After reviewing all the posting I have noticed there are a lot of people suggesting that you assist with a pyrotechnic display or more commonly called a fireworks show. You have learned / used several basic skills in your past shows that would be needed to assist with a fireworks show. I am a licensed fireworks technician that has been shooting displays for a large fireworks company in Maine for 15 years and wanted to provide you with some of the details that happen on a fireworks display. Hopefully the information below will create a desire to learn more and contact someone to help on a show.
The first requirement needed is the ability to count. All shows have to have the shells (product) packed into to boxes for delivery to the site. For pyrotechnic displays the designing and packaging of a show can take as little as several hours to as long as months. The length of time to develop and pack a show all depends on how big of a show and how it is fired. Electronic firing takes longer to plan and set-up due to the precision that can be obtained by using computers & electronic firing boards and because of the amount of wires that need to be connected to launch the shells.
After the show is designed and the shells packed an equipment list is developed. The bigger the show the more equipment that is required. The equipment list consists of all the guns and racks needed to shoot the display. A gun is a single tube that is usually made of steel or PVC. It is usually buried into a 55 gallon drum or some other container to maintain its upward orientation. A rack is a string of tubes built together in a wooden frame. Most racks are made with PVC or cardboard guns.
The second requirement is the ability to perform manual labor. All the equipment needs to be loaded onto a truck for delivery to the site. Loading the truck is a time consuming process. The racks and guns can get quite heavy. The guns and racks are very dirty with the residue of past shows. Once the truck is packed it is delivered to the site. All the work loading the truck is reversed. Unloading a truck on site can be an easy task since gravity does work. However that is not always the case. Sometimes the truck cannot drive up to the site. On some occasions all the equipment and product need to be hand carried quite a distance due to the site layout. It is even worst if the show is on a barge in the water. Barge shows require carrying the equipment and product down long piers or loading from the shore. Loading from the shore can cause people to get wet feet.
The third requirement is the use of construction skills. The site has to be assembled. If guns are being used then 55 gallon drums need to be filled with sand to hold the guns stable. Guns need to have pieces of wood placed under them prior to burying to prevent the guns from sinking out due to the force of the shell launching. If racks are used they need to be nailed to end pieces to keep them from tipping over. Usually several racks are nailed together. Care need to be taken during the construction to prevent driving a nail through a gun. That could be a bad thing. After the racks are all nailed together some sand is placed in front of the guns to provide additional stability.
The labor is being performed while being attacked by mosquitoes and black flies and putting up with Maine’s crazy weather.
The fourth requirement is the ability to be a security detail. Anytime the product is on site there is a requirement to secure the area. This prevents unauthorized personnel from getting near the area hurting themselves or the crew. The sponsor of the show has the requirement to provide security. On large metropolitan shows the security detail does a very good job of keeping people out of the area. For smaller shows in rural communities the security detail are not always on site as soon as the product is delivered. They may show up a few minutes before the show. On those occasions we need to monitor the area as we are setting up the show. If someone comes into the area that is not authorized we need to chase them away.
The fifth requirement is the ability to be a diplomat and spokesperson. During the set up of the show there are visitors from the local police and fire departments, state fire marshal office, media and the shows sponsor. We need to stop what we are doing meet with them. Provide a tour of the site or what ever else they want to discuss. These are the people that we need to ensure have all their concerns met and expectations covered. It is a bad thing if there are problems with any of those people. We need to please the sponsor as you are probably aware.
Once all the racks are assembled and guns set it is time to start loading the show. The show consists of several different areas. There is usually an opener, main body and a finale. The opener and finale need to be tied together as flights. A flight is a string of shells that has the entire quick match connected. Depending on the size of the finale it could take hours to assemble the racks, load the shells and tie the quick match together. To load a shell it is a process that consists of inspecting the shell and lowering into the gun. If the show is fired electronically and the squib was not already installed onto the shell it will need to be installed. A squib is similar to the igniter used to fire small model rockets. An electrical charge causes the squib to ignite lighting the quick match on the shell thus causing it to launch.
Now comes the fun part which is the lighting of the show. If the show is fired electronically someone will be flicking switches or the computer will be controlling the action. If it is hand fired a person or people walk down the line pulling off the safety cap and lighting the shells. Sometimes there are people walking behind the lighter cleaning and reloading the guns. There is a lot of noise and falling embers. Caution needs to be taken to prevent burning embers from landing in a shell box or on a shell that has not been lit.
The sixth requirement is to have landscaping skills. Once the show is completed and the cool down time has lapsed and all the tubes have been inspected to ensure that everything is safe it is time to tear down the site. We disassemble the racks and barrels and reload them back onto the truck. We then take rakes and trash bags to clear up our mess. Fireworks leave a lot of debris scattered around the general area. We try to clean up our mess as well as we can but the work is being done in the dark usually with headlights as our only source of light.
After the area is cleaned up and everything is packed up it is time for the show critique. Each crew does their critique differently. Some perform it on site after everything is put away, while others do it while they are waiting for the cool down period after the show prior to taking everything apart. Still others do it at their favorite after show eatery. My crew usually does the formal critique at the site and the informal on my deck drinking beers relaxing and recapping the night.
Hope this helps explain what happens on a show. You can never truly experience the pleasure of fireworks until you have held the flame against a fuse and watched the power of the shell erupt.
mxs1st@hotmail.com
