Nolan is part pyro!

Well, to be more correct I was part of a pyro crew this year on the 4th of July!

Our friends the Pippins were visiting Alan's parents in Portland, OR this summer and we went down to spend some time with them.  And one of the main activities on the agenda was helping out with their fireworks show they put on!  Apparently the Pippins have been putting on fireworks shows for a couple decades now.  His dad is a licensed pyrotechnician and does 4th of July shoots for a company that does business all up and down the west coast.  When I would hear Alan talking about the shoots they would do, I always wanted to come help out.  Since we are living in Washington now it was the perfect opportunity to see some friends and light off some big mortar shells!

We all met in the booming metropolis of Creswell, OR.  It is a town of around 5000 and the fireworks shoot is in the big grass fields that the grade and high schools share (go Bulldogs!).  There was a large pile of sand dumped near the middle of the field and we spent the better part of the day setting up for the show.

There were a lot of families and kids all there to help and hang out.  They could be there until the fireworks (aka explosives) were opened.  Then they had to stay clear.

The first order of business was to dig trenches in the sand to bury the mortars (racks of plastic tubes that the shells shoot from).  Alan and I were the lucky trench diggers.  After that all the mortars were unloaded and buried in the trenches so only a few inches were above the sand.  The sand keeps the mortars poiting the right direction and absorbs any blasts if something goes awry.  Next Alan's Mom and sister Heather got out the shells and started loading the mortars.  At this point all the mom's took the kids to the hotel for some swimming time.  Alan's Mom and sister Heather were in charge of making sure the show would look good and that you didn't have 2 of the same mortar go off back to back, etc.

While they were doing that we were preparing the "boxes."  Apparently when you see a fireworks show and like 20-30 smallish ones shoot off in rapid succession, it is ussually the results of a box.  A box holds a bunch of mortars and shells which are fused in such a way they all shoot off one right after another.  And apparently the good citizens of Creswell love the boxes! They cheered after every one of them :)

Part of getting to use (aka playing with) explosives is a lot of paperwork.  Including forms I had to fill out.  One of them had a Yes/No question section.  Of which the first question was "Are you a fugitive from the law?"  Really?  Is anyone who wants to shoot off fireworks going to answer "Yes"?  The people who should actually answer Yes are the ones who are least likely to answer the question truthfully!  Luckily I am not a fugitive from the law and could truthfully answer "No" to that question and they let me on the pyro crew!

There was a bunch more setting up to do and a number of checks that the head pyro has to do before the show can be ready.  A few things that they did to make life easier was rubberband the fuses down so when an adjacent mortar and shell goes off it doesn't blow the fuse away.  And another was putting foil over the finale boxes and mortars so they don't prematurely go off.

The start time for the show was quickly approaching and we were all donning our gear (hard hats, safety glasses, double ear protection, gloves, and a fire coat that had a collar up around our necks).  Alan's dad held a pre-job meeting to talk about every one's roles and safety.  And he spoke about the most important safety rule, which is after the show has started, never, EVER, put any part of your body of a mortar.  Even if you are sure it has already gone off.  Because if you hand is over one and it goes off, you'll have one less hand to do the show next year!

After that we lit our flares (3 were always lit) and started the show.  Alan's dad did then opener, and then Alan was next.  After Alan, I got to light 80 3" shells!  It was a crazy blast of fun!  Fire was raining down everywhere, smoke was all around and I got to shoot off the biggest fireworks I'd ever done!  I kept thinking, "I can't believe they actually let people do this!"  It was quite the rush, but I was glad to share the lighting the shells with others because there was a lot of smoke.

After my turn was up, I got to watch some of the fireworks.  Being directly below them provides a fantastic view of the show!  After the show was done we took off our ear protection to hear the crowd and waved our flares to them.

Then the clean-up begun.  But not until Alan's dad did the most dangerous part of his job.  A live round check.  He visually verified that each and every shell had gone off by looking down each mortar.  When we got the clear signal we doused everything and cleaned and packed up.

It made for a long day, but a great time!  One of the funniest parts was after I did it two different people both told me I could check that off my "bucket list!"

Thanks Pippins!!!

-Nolan, Steffenie, Lexa and Clara