Well, since we're approaching the 4th of July, I figured it'd be an appropriate time to give you guys a neat "behind the scenes" look at a professional fireworks display. I've been working on the pyro crews of various display companies in Washington over the past couple years. These photos are from two displays I worked on, both of which took place on a barge.

Here the barge is docked. Wooden boxes are put together and filled with sand to support the mortars. Each shell has a specific number, which indicates when it will be fired in the display. The battery of 5" shells in the foreground (bottom left) is angled slightly to the left, and will be wired together with 2 similar boxes - one containing tubes pointing straight up, and another containing tubes angled slightly to the right. A single button wire fire a cluster of three shells, which spread out across the sky and burst at the same time. The shells ascend approximately 100 feet into the air for every inch in diameter that they are. In the photo, the shells are being "nested" on top of the mortars in order to make sure everything is in its proper place. Later, the shells will be lowered into the tubes.



This is a crude drawing I made several years ago, showing a cross section of a shell. When the quick match fuse is lit - either by torch, or in our case, an electrical igniter - it burns at approximately 100-200 feet per second, transferring fire to the lift charge. This creates an explosion in the tube which fires the shell into the air. This explosion ignites a time fuse, which burns towards the center of the shell. When the shell reaches a certain altitude, the tip of the time fuse ignites a second explosive charge, which bursts the shell apart and propels colorful burning balls of composition (stars) in all directions.



Myself (on the right) and the head guy in charge of the display, each holding a 12" shell - the largest type used in the display. They will be fired out of the giant mortars seen behind us, will rise to approximately 1100-1200 feet, and will create an explosion anywhere from 500-600 feet in diameter.



Some large European rockets. Rockets of this size are available to consumers in several European countries, but are classified as display fireworks (for professional use only) in the United States.



A series of 7 roman candle batteries arranged in a fan pattern. These candles are about 3 feet long and 2.5" in diameter.



A salute rack. Upon ignition, the fast burning quick match fuse will launch all of these 2" shells into the air at once. Each one is filled with flash powder (the same composition used in M-80s), which will create a rapid series of thunderous bursts.



The "boom shed", a portable structure made of 3/4" plywood. A crew of 3-4 pyrotechnicians will ignite the show electrically from behind this shed once the barge is towed out to sea. It protects them from burning fallout, as well as bits of burning composition, fiberglass (from the mortars), and plywood chunks should a shell accidentally burst prematurely in a tube. Usually one does the firing, and the other guys serve as lookouts to monitor the falling debris and make sure the barge doesn't catch fire.



A photo of me running a "continuity check" shortly before the display, once all the wires had been connected. The firing panel runs a tiny current through the electrical igniter of every shell, which lights up an LED if the circuit is complete. Incomplete circuits are fixed to be sure that every shell will fire.



The last picture I took, as the barge was being towed out. A crew of about 10 people spent 12 hours wiring the entire display. Needless to say, towards the end it became very difficult to move around the barge without tripping. The foil-covered device in the foreground is a large display cake - a scaled-up version of what you can buy in roadside firework stands.



Since I was sort of "in training" to get my state pyrotechnic operator's license, the master pyro at this display insisted that I do the actual firing, under his supervision. It was an incredible rush to be 20-60 feet away from these mortars as they fired, and to feel the entire barge shake as each shell launched whenever I pressed a button on the firing panel. During the split-second when the lift charge fires, the entire mortar tube glows bright yellow from the inside, sending a huge column of flame about 10 feet into the air. The spectators standing 1000 feet away see this only as a tiny flash of light.

Wow

Looks hardcore!

How much does it cost for all of those fireworks?

*lights a match*

I've always wanted to build small scale stuff, using store-bought parts and fireworks. It'd be fun to have gun fights with small-scale fireworks
(armored and nowhere that'll catch on fire, obviously)

That's some cool ****. We know the lead Emergency Response guy personally (dad's best friend) so at the local show every year we get to be much closer than the regular crowd (Where the Emerg. Response guys get to park). I love watching firework shows.

You'd think that some of those wires would come loose or disconnect when the other shells start firing, like from the concussion of the blast or explosion. Still very cool stuff.

Never been a more appropriate username.

Now that looks like a fun job... And man, those are some big effin' bottle rockets...

awesome.

we had some neato firework show for june 24th in my town. it was breathtaking

have fun blowing stuff up.

The fireworks were brought in directly from China and I'm not sure how much the guy actually paid for them, but I know that a typical holiday display of that size costs around $1,000 per minute.

We haven't (yet) had a problem with the concussions jarring the wires loose. The bigger risk is having a rising shell take its wire with it, ripping itself and others out of the field module box. You'll notice in the last picture that we thread the igniters through smalled holes drilled into the mortars to help prevent this.

It's pretty neat being directly beneath the display as the shells are bursting. The lift charges are just as loud - if not louder - than the actual shell breaks.

Hardcore indeed. Professional fireworks are awesome to behold.

Actually, is it me or do those "European rockets" reminds you of Panzerfausts?