When you see a fabulous fireworks show, you probably aren't thinking about what the crew did that day to set it up, or what challenges they may have faced. Not everything always goes as smoothly as we would like, but we pull it off, we get through it and we create those fabulous fireworks shows despite what seem to be insurmountable odds. These kinds of setbacks happen in most jobs, but throw outdoor events, celebrating general public, weather, and explosives into the mix and you can find yourself in some pretty interesting situations. Get a group of us together and the stories start flying and we wear those stories like a badge of honour.
Question #7: What is your favorite story to tell when swapping
fireworks “war stories” with other techs?
James: When the Celtic Festival
ordered their show. They got a show that
would normally be shot in 17-20 minutes and requested it be shot in just over 4
minutes. We really burnt the sky that
night...it was quite cool.
Leiah: I was on my third show in as many
days. This one was electrical and on a
barge and the weather was not co-operating.
The organizer decided that they wanted to postpone the show until the
next day, honestly I was thrilled, I was exhausted and was looking forward to
some food and getting a good nights sleep. The crew and I headed to the hotel
and settled in for the night. At 9:30pm
there was a knock on the door. The rain
had let up and the organizer wanted us to go ahead with the show. We set that show up in the dark, holding our
flashlights in our mouths, while the barge was being towed out to its anchoring
spot. By the skin of our teeth we got
that thing planted and fired. The finale
was a massive amount of salutes and it shook the rain out of the clouds, the heavens opened up and it just poured on us!
Ross:
When I first got into fireworks, I was working both at the mag, and
helping the office guy for the summer. The company I worked for shipped product
to a guy in rural Saskatchewan for his July 1 show. I answered when he called
to confirm availability of certain colours and effects, and we were confirming
the last details of his show before we shipped. I asked him if he needed any
quickmatch or delay fuse. He said he didn’t know what delay fuse was, and I
explained it was a fuse to tie shells together, it helped some people with
timing of their shows. His reply to that… That’s what he used beer for. He
bought a six pack. He knew how fast he drank a beer, and he would time out his
show and put down the next beer where he wanted to be fireworks vs. time wise.
He knew he had to shoot slower or faster depending on how much beer he had left
and how far away the next bottle was. To this day I have no idea if he was
kidding or not.
Adam:
You aren’t supposed to talk about those, are you?
Candice:
This story is entitled, “The night a lit the cake at the wrong time!”
It was my very first show as a member of an Archangel
Fireworks crew. I was terrified and so nervous; it was like I was on the worst
job interview ever.
The lead supervisor gave me very specific instruction as
I was to light the commercial cakes when he called my name. Instructions that
should have been pretty easy to follow.... Right?... Unless a flare detonates
in that same supervisors hand in the middle of the show. Needless to say, that
is exactly what happened that night. When the supervisor called my name, he was
not signaling me to light the next cake, he was trying to get my attention so I
would give him my already lit flare. I didn’t exactly get the message and
continued to light cakes.
Turns out, there was another Archangel Fireworks
supervisor in the crowd that night. When he came over following the show, the
first question he asked was who was lighting cakes at the wrong time. I was
mortified!
Kelly: I
enjoy mentioning the snipers on the rooftops around my rooftop at the
games. Talking about my other favorites
often starts by making sure my audience should be privy to the stories.
Now that you are getting to know us, would you like to join the Archangel team?
Archangel Fireworks is HIRING for the 2014 fireworks season. We have two warehouse positions available and one part time showroom position. View the job postings here:
Do you have a question for the crew? Is there something that you would like to know about what it's like to be a pyrotechnician? If we use your question you could win your very own Archangel Fireworks T-shirt! Send your questions to info@archangelfireworks.com
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