Are most big display companies going all electric?

[Delwely]

This guy on youtube I watch who works on shows for Pyrotechnico here in CT (the channel is drfirebird64) said in his most recent fireworks video that as of 2022, Pyrotechnico shoots ALL shows 100% electrically. Also, I can't seem to find it now as I go back, but I'm pretty sure he said at some point that a lot of other big display companies are doing the same. Does anyone here know more about this? Zambelli is what I'm really interested in finding out about as I plan on trying to work for them next year, and they do my town's annual July 4th display. The only reason I'm even asking about this here is that I found some evidence that could potentially point toward it being the case. I found a couple photos of my town's 2022 setup on social media, I can't determine for sure that it was all electrical as nothing was yet loaded, just the racks were setup, but there were a lot of electrical rails off to the side, far more than would be needed for just the finale, and the racks were built differently than in 2021 which was clearly hand lit like it has been for many years. It's not IMPOSSIBLE that my town just decided they want the show electric now, but it does seem a little strange. Just figured I check if anyone here has some more insight into what's going on at the display companies. Thanks.

[Blaster]

I don't think ALL shows are ever going to be electrically fired but as time goes on more & more are going that way for sure (I think Mass is an "electric only" State ~ isn't it?).

In like 1997 we all got a letter from Atlas saying "By the Year 2000 Atlas will be 100% Electrically fired" (that never happened) but, they certainly were 90+% for the most part within just a few years. Atlas was always at the forefront of technology (Electrical shows, Computer Controlled, Firing Trailers, Firing Barges, Aluminum Pods) and was just acquired by Pyrotechnico so it is possible that they say their going to be 100% Electric (in the real world though, on the 4th when all equipment is "stretched, will they still shoot a sm fair or volunteer FD show manually? ~ probably...)

Zambelli shoots electric for the most part (I'd Bet your Town is too ~ any show I've fired for them have been electric for some time) but, of all the companies out there I'd bet Zambelli shoots So Many "tiny" shows (besides all the Big Shows they do) that they'd have a hard time going 100%.

I'm not sure what the objection is though, you don't want to shoot electric? I admit, there's something to miss about touching the QM with a flare, and the resulting Launch ;), that I miss sometimes but,,, electrically fired is just So Much Better a show (the timing & coordination and all, I couldn't go back...)

[Delwely]

Heck yeah I want to light stuff! I'm still gonna try to work for them, but that is a bit of a bummer to find out I'll only rarely if ever hand-light anything. Yes, MA banned hand-firing, the aforementioned pyrotechnico shooter did clarify that CT HASN'T banned it like MA. I'm pretty confident my town's 2022 show was electric like you said, and I mentioned before, but it just seems weird that it only changed now, the 2021 show and before were without a doubt hand-fired.

[Salutecake]

Well I don't know about CT but even bigger companies use a combination of both hand and electric fired in shows. A couple of reasons come to mind. First the big companies, especially around the 4th, might run out of electric equpment. Another reason would be what type of show including what type of product will be used. So a choreographed show might be all electric, another show you might just stand there and count to 2 and light one off, count to 2 again and light one off. Still another is the cost factor, maybe another 0.30 per ematch per shell? Set up time to wire everything up, compared to just dropping shells in? The size of the shell also matters.
If you really want to hand fire, join a club and go to some open shoots.

[Mattp]

I don’t know about all or most,, but I do know the company I do work for (and it’s a big name one) … is 100% ALL electric,, no acceptions.. In the peak season you might end up with an older beat up model,, on your shoot,, but every show is electric

[Delwely]

Well I don't know about CT but even bigger companies use a combination of both hand and electric fired in shows. A couple of reasons come to mind. First the big companies, especially around the 4th, might run out of electric equpment. Another reason would be what type of show including what type of product will be used. So a choreographed show might be all electric, another show you might just stand there and count to 2 and light one off, count to 2 again and light one off. Still another is the cost factor, maybe another 0.30 per ematch per shell? Set up time to wire everything up, compared to just dropping shells in? The size of the shell also matters.
If you really want to hand fire, join a club and go to some open shoots.

Yeah maybe I'll try that if Zambelli turns out to be unsatisfactory.

[Delwely]

I don’t know about all or most,, but I do know the company I do work for (and it’s a big name one) … is 100% ALL electric,, no acceptions.. In the peak season you might end up with an older beat up model,, on your shoot,, but every show is electric

I have a hunch who the company might be, based on your location, and if I'm correct, that doesn't surprise me. It seems like they've always been a little different, less old school than other huge companies like Zambelli or Pyrotechnico

[displayfireworks1]

Too much to type so I decided to make a video to discuss electrical firing ,hand firing as it relates to a fireworks crew. In the second video it shows some of the work involved in setting up a 3 inch electrically fired display.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Noyqt5DaNoQ
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In this video at around the 1:22 mark you can see the work involved in setting up a simply 3 inch shells display. Compare that to simply just dropping and firing the same shells.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC8tuCuHWTQ

[Delwely]

Oh, I'll work on as many shows as I can, just my town show is the one I really have my heart set on if nothing else, but I'm by no means trying to get into this with the intention of working on just that one show a year. I won't give up, I'd still be happy to work on electric shows rather than no shows at all, just that what I've heard so much from you and a lot of other people is that hand-fired shows are a bit less work and a bit more 'fun'. I've actually already watched that second video in full a while ago, I have a playlist of all your pro show 'behind the scenes' videos I could find, 10 I believe, most of which I've watched several times so I think I understand all the physical labor and not so fun parts involved, that doesn't bother me, I still want to do it. Oh, and no, consumer fireworks are most certainly NOT legal in CT XD

[Delwely]

I'm not just some kid that thinks blowing stuff up is cool. As long as I can remember I've been amazed by fireworks and I was always curious about what was going on down there on the ground and thought it must be so awesome to be those people setting that all up and firing it for thousands of people to see and hear. All the hard work seems well worth it to me for such immense satisfaction.

[BMoore]

Delwely - Most of the large companies are primarily e-fired. The company I shoot for has been 100% e-fire for several years now. It's a combination of perceived safety (I didn't say actual safety), and the fact that shows are becoming faster and more intense. At first, it bothered me that I did all that work and never got to light a shell or even push the button to start the script. The part you have to wrap your head around is that even though you are not touching a flare to Quickmatch, you are still shooting the show. You are the one installing the e-match, dropping the shell and landing the wires to the modules. The work you are doing is what puts that shell in the air and it's actually a more technical process than hand lighting. The only show I still hand fire is my own personal show. It lets me scratch my itch to light something, but even that is about 80% e-fired these days.

What I do kind of have a problem with is that a lot of display companies do not even teach hand firing anymore. In my opinion, you need to be a proficient and safe hand-firer to develop the respect that display fireworks deserve.

[displayfireworks1]

These display companies that are 100 % E-Fire unless they are paying the E-Fire crew more money all its costing them is the price of E-Match (which ain't much). They must have access to people that have the skill to do it, to blanketly have a policy like that. It would be interesting to see a list of each state and what the E-fire vs Hand Fire regulations are? and what state is it that requires that special dumb ass rack I mentioned in my video. LOL

[Delwely]

Delwely - Most of the large companies are primarily e-fired. The company I shoot for has been 100% e-fire for several years now. It's a combination of perceived safety (I didn't say actual safety), and the fact that shows are becoming faster and more intense. At first, it bothered me that I did all that work and never got to light a shell or even push the button to start the script. The part you have to wrap your head around is that even though you are not touching a flare to Quickmatch, you are still shooting the show. You are the one installing the e-match, dropping the shell and landing the wires to the modules. The work you are doing is what puts that shell in the air and it's actually a more technical process than hand lighting. The only show I still hand fire is my own personal show. It lets me scratch my itch to light something, but even that is about 80% e-fired these days.

What I do kind of have a problem with is that a lot of display companies do not even teach hand firing anymore. In my opinion, you need to be a proficient and safe hand-firer to develop the respect that display fireworks deserve.

Yeah, I guess I'll say it a third time, I'm happy to shoot electric, I'd just be EVEN happier to shoot hand fired. Thanks for the reply.

[Delwely]

These display companies that are 100 % E-Fire unless they are paying the E-Fire crew more money all its costing them is the price of E-Match (which ain't much). They must have access to people that have the skill to do it, to blanketly have a policy like that. It would be interesting to see a list of each state and what the E-fire vs Hand Fire regulations are? and what state is it that requires that special dumb ass rack I mentioned in my video. LOL

Did that rack look anything like this?

edit: I can't seem to upload the image even after shrinking it down to under 1MB

[jamisonlm3]

Is this newfangled rack one of those stamped steel racks you've got to use c-clamps on?

[Delwely]

Is this newfangled rack one of those stamped steel racks you've got to use c-clamps on?

That's exactly what I was trying to upload an image of

[Blaster]

My thoughts...

I don't believe that ANY fireworks company wants to have to remake every rack they have for some competitive advantage, it doesn't serve their needs either to have big heavy monstrous racks. When Zambelli had to conform to CT rack standards in the 90's they made 3" Finale racks from rough-sawn wet red oak and put 20 5" Lag Bolts in them. Huge blocks between the tubes, huge slabs of wood on the sides, they weighed @80lbs ea. There was no Fireworks Co exclusively in CT to cause them to demand these new racks with Way Too Much wood in them. This was about the State Fire Marshal's Office playing the CYA game.

And that is probably the reason that the NE States come-up with all this stuff in the first place. It's a Very Litigious Are of the country, and no official doing their job is safe from being sued personally for some, supposed, neglect. Plus, they all talk to each other, and give each other goofy ideas. When the NH FM decides that "sleeving" a 5" HDPE Mortar with a 4" inside it (allowing a trailer to fire more shells in a 4" max show), without any Science or Testing, it just "sounds like it might be dangerous" to him, They All Follow. No FM wants to be the guy who allowed it to be done and dragged into court by some Ambulance Chaser for it.

Electric firing can be a lot more work only if you're not committed to it. If you have to use the racks & equipment for manual shows with electric you increase the labor significantly because you have to haul all those wooden racks out and set them up and tear them down. That's Not the way to do Electric! Again, trailers, barges, pods one man moves with a handtruck take the labor out of the show. No nailing, no long lines of racks that have to be dissembled and stacked. The show is ready to start loading 1/2hr after you arrive and loaded back into the truck in less than a hour after it's over. I realize that not everybody is going to be able to do this at every show, but it IS the way-to-go if you're committed to Electric firing.

Also, in their eyes, Electric IS safer just from the simple fact that the shooters are all 100ft away from the tubes (and it Certainly is from that aspect). EMatch accidents are pretty rare I think if you look at the quantity they're used in, but when things go "wrong" they go Really Wrong. Today we see plastic receptacles in the match and pre-matching has pretty much become a thing of the past.

From the Past,,, the most ridiculous attempt for a "Competitive Advantage" has to have come from Zambelli in the 80's :D One day they decided to size their shells by Circumference. That is, a 3" became a 9", a 4 a 12, a 6 an 18!!!! Their salesman would walk-in saying "3in heck, the Smallest shell we'll give you is a 9in" ~hehe Lots of confusion for us at the site, the sponsor would ask "where are the 128 12" shells?" and it would be up to one of us to look them straight-in-the-Face and show then a box of 4's...

[displayfireworks1]

One of my videos from 12 years ago has a good example of what you are talking about. Back then a lot of display company would donate old and even damaged product to the Crackerjacks Club. If I remember correctly the ATF told the person in charge of the magazines he was sick of counting those old shells and to do something with them. George and I decided to help with that problem. In the beginning of the video you can see some of those measurements of shells were by circumference because it probably sounded better when bidding out a show. I have the video in three parts because back then my YouTube channel was limited to only 15 minute length videos. For some reason I had to age restrict two parts of it.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqMKNTb9Ngs
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5wNsE2suhc
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wztMad6yBVo

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I'm not just some kid that thinks blowing stuff up is cool. As long as I can remember I've been amazed by fireworks and I was always curious about what was going on down there on the ground and thought it must be so awesome to be those people setting that all up and firing it for thousands of people to see and hear. All the hard work seems well worth it to me for such immense satisfaction.

I was invited to work on the July 4th show for the city of Tampa a few years ago. It will probably be the pinnacle of my pyro career. It was an amazingly brutal experience. We had one guy lose 27lbs in water weight and wound up in the ER and was hospitalized for 2 days. Afternoon storms wiped out half a barge of effects. It was the most work I've done in decades. Including my home pyro shows. So be prepared to work like you've never worked before.

If you like doing that kind of thing, I would encourage you to join the PGI if you're not already a member. There is no shortage of building opportunities there.

[BMoore]

I was invited to work on the July 4th show for the city of Tampa a few years ago. It will probably be the pinnacle of my pyro career. It was an amazingly brutal experience. We had one guy lose 27lbs in water weight and wound up in the ER and was hospitalized for 2 days. Afternoon storms wiped out half a barge of effects. It was the most work I've done in decades. Including my home pyro shows. So be prepared to work like you've never worked before.

Reminds me of the first pro shoot I did. It was a fairly large shoot (over 3,000 shells) all individually squibbed. Two day setup in 100+ degree weather. After day one, one of the guys decided he was too sick to come back. Half way through day 2 another guy passed out and was taken away by ambulance. I had serious doubts about my own ability, especially since I'm an office worker and not accustomed to this kind of heat or manual labor. The three of us remaining got through it though. The show was great but I also remember wanting it to be over as soon as possible because of all the teardown work lying ahead. I got out of there at 2am and drove 1.5 hours home. Whenever I got home and slipped off my boots, I noticed that all of my toenails had turned black! It was diagnosed as runners toe. The combination of excessive standing, walking and crouching was just too much. It is definitely very brutal work and it's not for everyone. It's something you have to experience to understand it.

[RalphieJ]

As my local company owner once told me on a shoot: "That's why it's called fire WORK, and not fire PLAY.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

It is definitely very brutal work and it's not for everyone. It's something you have to experience to understand it.

Amen to that! Definitely a young man's game. I'm glad I did it, but they don't have to worry about me doing it again.

[jamisonlm3]

Besides the grueling hard work, it can be down right boring at times too. Alot of people might think it's all fun, but they quickly find they didn't really know what they were getting themselves into.