Flash and sizzle
Everybody loves a show of fireworks – and there’s a whole lot of strategy and science behind the magic
Hours before fireworks lit up the sky over the Pictou Harbour Friday night, Bill Chace and other employees of Fireworks FX were already on site, setting up. “Everybody loves fireworks,” said Chace as he and Shaun MacLaughlin loaded mortar tubes into specially designed racks on a float. Chace and MacLaughlin are both firefighters with the Westville Fire Department and got their start in the art of fireworks helping out with Canada Day fireworks in the town. Now with 10 years’ experience, Chace is an employee of Fireworks FX and travels throughout the province setting up and firing fireworks displays. MacLaughlin has his assistant fireworks operator certificate and Chace has his supervisor’s certificate with endorsements. Fireworks FX, which is based out of Grand Pré, N.S., buys the fireworks from countries all over the world like Spain, China and Mexico. “You have to have a special licence to buy them not the average person can get them,” Chace said. The first step is to get the mortar tubes in the racks. Then the shells are loaded into the mortars. After that you tie in the electrics, Chace said. “Everything is wired to a computer,” he explained. “Then you just sit in your bunker and push buttons.” Of course weather is always a concern. If it’s raining during the setup, he said you have to cover everything in plastic or foil to prevent it from getting wet. Wind is another enemy. “Once you get over 40 km/hr winds you can’t shoot.” But above all else, the people working behind the scenes to put on the display are trained to think about safety first. “You have to really pay attention to what you’re doing,” Chace said. “When you get complacent that’s when something will happen.” But when everything goes right, like they did with the Lobster Carnival display, it’s rewarding for the men to sit back and watch it all unfold. “Everybody loves fireworks,” says Chace.