Kaboom!
It's been a lovely 4th of July weekend, which we spent in a small town. Small town America is really the only place to fully appreciate this holiday. We were in Eager, Arizona, where Brent's aunt and uncle live. We arrived Monday night, then spent Tuesday involved in all the festivities. We watched a great parade- with floats both fancy and simple. I would post photos, except that I forgot the cable for my camera.
We next went to a barbecue that was a fundraiser for one of the local Boy Scout troops- barbecued shredded beef sandwiches, coleslaw, baked beans, homemade cake, lemonade, and since it's Arizona, sopapillas.
Our next destination was the airport, where we helped set up for the fireworks show. This is a huge event, with thousands of dollars worth of fireworks. We sorted the different sized shells into cans, and set them up at different firing stations. The larger shells were in stations that were half-buried underground, and that have to be fired electronically. We helped wire all of those together, then had a training session.
After a family barbecue (6 of Brent's 17 aunts/uncles and their families were there), we went back to the airport, suited up in coveralls and hoods, and began the show. We had one last safety lecture, including the instructions that if anyone were to get hurt, the show was over. I was assigned to guard the can of 3-inch shells, which meant that when the people who were loading shells came up, I had to open the lid so they could get shells out, but the rest of the time keep it closed so that no flying embers or sparks got in the can. When the show started, it was just amazing. There is no way to describe what it's like to watch a fireworks show from directly underneath. There's also no way to describe how disconcerting it is to have explosives going off, about 20 yards behind you, and that while you know you're probably safe, there are no guarantees. I thought of my best friend, who is a combat veteran, and how he would never be able to do this, because he's been in a real battle, in which the explosions are meant to hurt him, and that this almost minimizes how serious that situation is.
Almost. After about 15 minutes of firing, we had a "low break." This is when a firework explodes closer to the ground that it's supposed to. We'd had one earlier, that had only gone about 50 feet up. The pressure from that blast was amazing, but it wasn't a big deal. The second one, though, was. This was one of the 6-inch shells, which is the largest size that are allowed to be set off by hand. It exploded inside the steel pipe, and apparently landed between the 6-inch shells station and ours. The concussion from that blast felt like someone shoved me, and I was at least 15 yards away from it. There were five or six people who were closer, though. Most of them just got hit by the blast, but two of them got peppered with pieces of shell and gunpowder. And one of those was also hit by something- maybe a piece of the wooden rack that holds the pipes, and had a huge gash in his leg. We immediately ended the hand-firing part of the show, and they set of the electical finale rounds, which were at the other side of the field. They brought an ambulance out for the two guys who were hurt, and that was the end of the show.
There were a lot of us who were really shaken. Safety is a top priority for this crew, and while everyone on the crew is volunteers, most of them have been doing it for a long time, and those of us who were new were kept far away from lighting or loading shells. It was still scary to see someone get hurt, and while he'll be fine, there's always the chance that it could have been much worse.
This morning, while we were leaving town, we overheard some people in the grocery store complaining that the show had only been 15 minutes long. I wanted to tell them that someone on our crew had been hurt, and to explain that it was our policy, but I just didn't feel it was my place to try and straighten out the gossip. I'm sorry people are disappointed that the show was short, but I'm grateful that Mark is going to be ok, and that the person who ran back to the family area only had to tell Mark's wife that he was going to the hospital for stitches, not that it was anything worse.
So, do I plan to do it again next year? Absolutely. But I'll always be aware of how real it is that while they're in the shape of pretty stars and flowers, they're still explosives.
We next went to a barbecue that was a fundraiser for one of the local Boy Scout troops- barbecued shredded beef sandwiches, coleslaw, baked beans, homemade cake, lemonade, and since it's Arizona, sopapillas.
Our next destination was the airport, where we helped set up for the fireworks show. This is a huge event, with thousands of dollars worth of fireworks. We sorted the different sized shells into cans, and set them up at different firing stations. The larger shells were in stations that were half-buried underground, and that have to be fired electronically. We helped wire all of those together, then had a training session.
After a family barbecue (6 of Brent's 17 aunts/uncles and their families were there), we went back to the airport, suited up in coveralls and hoods, and began the show. We had one last safety lecture, including the instructions that if anyone were to get hurt, the show was over. I was assigned to guard the can of 3-inch shells, which meant that when the people who were loading shells came up, I had to open the lid so they could get shells out, but the rest of the time keep it closed so that no flying embers or sparks got in the can. When the show started, it was just amazing. There is no way to describe what it's like to watch a fireworks show from directly underneath. There's also no way to describe how disconcerting it is to have explosives going off, about 20 yards behind you, and that while you know you're probably safe, there are no guarantees. I thought of my best friend, who is a combat veteran, and how he would never be able to do this, because he's been in a real battle, in which the explosions are meant to hurt him, and that this almost minimizes how serious that situation is.
Almost. After about 15 minutes of firing, we had a "low break." This is when a firework explodes closer to the ground that it's supposed to. We'd had one earlier, that had only gone about 50 feet up. The pressure from that blast was amazing, but it wasn't a big deal. The second one, though, was. This was one of the 6-inch shells, which is the largest size that are allowed to be set off by hand. It exploded inside the steel pipe, and apparently landed between the 6-inch shells station and ours. The concussion from that blast felt like someone shoved me, and I was at least 15 yards away from it. There were five or six people who were closer, though. Most of them just got hit by the blast, but two of them got peppered with pieces of shell and gunpowder. And one of those was also hit by something- maybe a piece of the wooden rack that holds the pipes, and had a huge gash in his leg. We immediately ended the hand-firing part of the show, and they set of the electical finale rounds, which were at the other side of the field. They brought an ambulance out for the two guys who were hurt, and that was the end of the show.
There were a lot of us who were really shaken. Safety is a top priority for this crew, and while everyone on the crew is volunteers, most of them have been doing it for a long time, and those of us who were new were kept far away from lighting or loading shells. It was still scary to see someone get hurt, and while he'll be fine, there's always the chance that it could have been much worse.
This morning, while we were leaving town, we overheard some people in the grocery store complaining that the show had only been 15 minutes long. I wanted to tell them that someone on our crew had been hurt, and to explain that it was our policy, but I just didn't feel it was my place to try and straighten out the gossip. I'm sorry people are disappointed that the show was short, but I'm grateful that Mark is going to be ok, and that the person who ran back to the family area only had to tell Mark's wife that he was going to the hospital for stitches, not that it was anything worse.
So, do I plan to do it again next year? Absolutely. But I'll always be aware of how real it is that while they're in the shape of pretty stars and flowers, they're still explosives.
posted by Julia at
5:57 PM
1 Comments:
Hmmm, explosives whether for fun or for war just aren't my cup of tea. Glad you weren't injured.
Are you still trotting about Arizona?
By
Charisse, at 3:06 AM
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