My brother & I are lifelong fireworks junkies & got lucky enough to be able to volunteer with helping to set up the mortar racks then loading & reloading the tubes with charges during the shoot for 3 years for the City of North Miami. They put on their own shows, at least in the 90's when we helped out. It was old school, dig the iron tubes into the ground, get the mortars from the wooden box assigned to a particular size of shell & the guy in charge used a 20 min road flare taped to the end of a broomstick. He'd walk & light the fuses in every section, we'd go to the box & get another battery & reload the tubes for the next pass, for 20 mins straight.
The concussions from the lift offs & the explosions from almost directly overhead were mind blowing. Looking straight up & watching the finale unfold can't be described with words, you have to experience it. The final shell was always a 12 incher. I got to light it one year. Wow!
If any of you dig professional fireworks & want an experience of a lifetime, seek out who is in charge of the shows in your area or in a smaller town nearby if you live in a big city (they use pro outfits who don't take volunteers) & see if you can volunteer to help with a show. You'll never forget it. But don't wear a shirt you can't part with. The miniscule falling embers pock mark it badly.
