15 replies to this topic

[zookeeper]

Just some thoughts and experiences...

If I have one more spectator come up and ask me, "Do ya' need a light?", I'm going to vomit.

I love when police come into the show site and ask, "can I play with the fireworks?" To which I reply "sure...can I play with your firearm?" (...they usually leave quickly, at that point)

Press persons asking "What's the worst thing that could happen during this display?"

Sunburn...enough said about that

Shooters, who are a little too "INTO" fireworks... if you get my drift.

Realizing, during a setup, that you are going to have to load far more shells than you had wanted to.

Sudden cloudbursts, and you're not quite as ready as you hoped!

Hand firing a display, during a New York winter, falling into a snowbank and extingushing the road flare.

Loading equipment onto a barge, for a water show, and going for surprise swim.

Let's hear some of your thoughts...

[littlejohny]

I love when police come into the show site and ask, "can I play with the fireworks?" To which I reply "sure...can I play with your firearm?" (...they usually leave quickly, at that point)

Lol thats funny

[zookeeper]

...more thoughts:

That horrible silence when your laptop tells you that everything is working, but your show has stopped firing and the last shell just broke:o...and you only 5 min. into the display program.

Shells that come from the manufacturer WITH THE WRONG LABEL ON THE SHELL! ie. brocade crown label, blue peony shell

The thick headed person who thought all of the warning signs, and security personel were for everyone else BUT them, and has now wandered into your display area....WHILE THE SHOW IS IN PROGRESS!!

[pyrotrev]

Having the igniter cables for part of the finale eaten by rogue sheep!

[sizzle]

Realsing your portfires are back in the car which is parked 1/2 a mile away just before your display.

[Damp Squib]

The thick headed person who thought all of the warning signs, and security personel were for everyone else BUT them, and has now wandered into your display area....WHILE THE SHOW IS IN PROGRESS!

I just wanted a peek

[zookeeper]

Having the igniter cables for part of the finale eaten by rogue sheep!

THAT has got to be the funniest thing I have EVER heard
...I'm going to share that story with my co-workers at the plant.

[zookeeper]

Realsing your portfires are back in the car which is parked 1/2 a mile away just before your display.

RUN LOLA RUN!

Problem:
Having a 16" buried mortar "pounded" down another 2 feet into the ground, by the recoil shock, and now trying to "brainstorm" ideas on how to get it out.

Solution:
Take a 15' cube van, and ram it several times on all sides to loosen, and pull out of ground with a tow chain. (The truck was a rental )

[MFX]

Gig from hell but looking back it's funny (kind of!)

Drove the several hundred miles from Kent (bottom of the UK) to Falkirk (Scotland) in a 7.5T rental, had a slight prang with a transit in the services on the way up, luckily the driver said "don't worry about it" despite the fact I'd cracked his headlight (obviously wasn't his van!). Get there and we've left all the firing system patch cables (short cables that connect the desk to the site reels) in Kent, luckily they're 4 way speakon so the noise boys for the gig had some we could use otherwise it would have been a BIG nailboard job or a trip to Maplins (UK electronics supplier). Rained for most of the day and we had to listen to the "Cheeky Girls" reherse for most of it Then 2 minutes to go to fire time and Noise boy runs through the site with me shouting "NO!", turns out the genset had packed up!, luckily he didn't take out any wires and the whole show fired fine! whew! In fact several other performances at the gig had to be cancelled due to the rain so we kind of saved the day in the end!

Other funnys

Having Police on standby on cross country trials bikes looking out for kids on the site due to us being in a rough yet rural area, and the cops coming up to us afterwards covered in fallout and loving it! (they were closer to the fireworks than we were!)

Same gig, being told that no traffic would be parking in a side road in the fallout area as it would be closed then us finding post gig, a load of parked cars covered in crap and having to do a quick clean up job!

having an unexploded 3" shell land a few feet from the desk and firing the rest of the show hiding behind a tree with my mate trying to hit with a fire extiguisher (It didn't go off)

The rookie who placed a cake upside down and no one else spotting it!

[sizzle]

The rookie who placed a cake upside down and no one else spotting it!

How can you not put it the right way up!?!?! most Cat 4 cakes have either a red top cover or silver to show which way is which!

[zookeeper]

The rookie who placed a cake upside down and no one else spotting it!

I've seen that happen, once, luckily the error was discovered during final walk through

...so...what happened?


I've seen some rookies place a "fanned" or "angled" cake in the improper direction...leaving the crowd a little confused.

[MFX]

How can you not put it the right way up!?!?! most Cat 4 cakes have either a red top cover or silver to show which way is which!

It was a long time ago so memory is a bit hazy but I think the cake had been re-waterproofed so looked almost identical either way up, so not entirely his fault but if you're not sure which way it up then you ask! And to zookeeper I didn't actually see it fire as I was on a second site at the time but apparently it had been staked well enough that it quote "jumped up a bit and then just carried on firing into the ground and the stars bounced around the site a bit!", aparently nothing left the site boundries. I think I may suggest it as a safety demo for the next crew day!

[zookeeper]

"jumped up a bit and then just carried on firing into the ground and the stars bounced around the site a bit!",

I would've liked to have seen that!

[italteen3]

Zookeeper what company do you shoot for? I just got a job for Bay Fireworks and was curious as to what companies they have upstate.

Just hope I dont have too many "funnies" shooting, but I guess that is expected.

[zookeeper]

Zookeeper what company do you shoot for? I just got a job for Bay Fireworks and was curious as to what companies they have upstate.

Just hope I dont have too many "funnies" shooting, but I guess that is expected.

Best of luck on the new job!

I work for Young Explosives Display Fireworks, www.youngexplosives.com

..as far as upstate companies go, you have:

American Fireworks, Utica
Alonso Fireworks, Mechanicsville (I think..)
Telstar, Auburn
Skylighters, Jamestown/Buffalo
Skyshooters, Cortland area

...and I think there are a few others, you may want to check the APA website or the PGI company member list

If you'd like more information PM me or email on the company website