Fireworks
Published Monday June 29th, 2009
Every Canada Day, local company lights up the city sky with a colourful, 20-minute fireworks display
Fireworks displays are a colourful, noisy addition to many summertime celebrations, including Canada Day.
Sky Designs is a local company that has been lighting up the skies over Fredericton with fireworks on July 1 for the past 12 years.
Long before Canada Day, Art and Tim Gibson start to plan the show that will have people oohing and ahhing with delight as they look to the sky. The Gibsons have kept records of every fireworks display they've ever done and are proud of the fact that no two fireworks shows they've done have been the same.
The awe and applause of the crowd is what really gets this fireworks father-and-son team fired up. They can tell how good the show is by the volume of applause and cheers from the crowd.
"We try to come up with different sequences and patterns. Immediately after we do a show we try to come up with ideas to make it better. We could do the same show year after year, with the exact same shells but what fun is that?" says Tim Gibson.
These guys say there are people who will travel to see their fireworks shows from as far away as Northern New Brunswick and the United States to see their work.
Most of the fireworks they use are imported from China, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Brazil, Italy and the United States. Shells range from tiny, two-inchers to gigantic mother-loads. They come with names such as palm trees, salutes, peonies, willows and crackling stars.
Firework shells from Spain and Italy are known for their long-lasting effects. The Brazilian fireworks are noisy. But 95 per cent of the world's supply of fireworks comes from China.
Tim Gibson is fond of one called the 'gold willow palm tree.' When it's fired, it has a long tail that breaks into five or six leaves and looks a lot like a palm tree.
The sunflower shell is one of Art Gibson's favourites. This firework will go 1,200 feet into the air and when it explodes it will expand 1,200 feet in diametre and look very much like a sunflower, he explains. This Japanese rocket is very impressive but it also comes with a very expensive price tag.
"He (Tim) won't let me buy it anymore, because it's very expensive," says Art Gibson.
They've discovered new shells that are designed to dazzle and delight all who see them.
Sky Design's 20-minute fireworks display, sponsored by local businesses, costs between $15,000 to $20,000. It's seen by an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people along the riverfront. Everything is perfectly timed.
The best fireworks display is timed to make sure people have an emotional rollercoaster ride through the show.
"We'll use softer colours, we'll use things that will last a little longer in the sky and bring the crowd down a little bit and then we'll get them excited again with a big sequence with hard-busting loud shells and really big shells."
Men and women differ in their likes and dislikes when it comes to fireworks, they say. Women enjoy large, colourful displays while men are looking for the big bang, the Gibsons say.
Fireworks are fun and bring out the kid in all of us but this isn't child's play. Paul Fleming, assistant deputy chief for fire prevention and investigation with the Fredericton Fire Department, says it's against the a city bylaw for anyone to use fireworks within Fredericton city limits outside of city-sanctioned fireworks displays by professional fireworks companies at specific events.
Anyone who is caught using fireworks in Fredericton is subject to bylaw infraction fines, he cautions.
Many people who live outside the city or who own cottages enjoy having fireworks at summer celebrations. Fleming says because these are live explosives, they must be handled with caution.
Make sure children and pets are kept away from them at all times and, he says, only one adult should handle them.
"If you have safe practices they are fine. The big thing to remember is that if you light a firework and it doesn't go off, don't try to re-light it. If the wick has burned down and it goes out, it might be right next to the ignition source."
Make sure you keep a water source such as a hose and a fire extinguisher on hand in case fireworks land in forests or buildings that could catch on fire, says Fleming.
The Gibsons, who are both firefighters, have taken special fireworks display training, where safety is key.
"The biggest thing is safety. Knowing wind direction, knowing what's around you. You want to know what your fallout zone is. At cottages, we normally tell people to have a 50- to 100-feet fallout zone," says Art Gibson.
Never light these in your hands. The potential for burns and injuries is very real.
"It's not smart and you could lose and eye so quick. It's just scary."
Also keep your pets far away from fireworks. Art Gibson says he knows a man whose dog was killed after it grabbed a lighted shell that exploded in its mouth.
These men never leave anything to chance when they are handling these explosives. They plan each display carefully and double-check everything to make sure nothing goes wrong. The shells are ignited by electricity with a three-stage firing system. A wire goes from the mortar back to an electrical panel far from the shells.
While people are watching the sky these men are focused on their work. The fireworks are ignited from a barge that's located on the river. They also pay close attention to wind conditions. A slight northeast wind is ideal. This will carry the smoke and fallout out to the river. The biggest and the best is always saved for the finale which is set up in three stages with shells set off 10 at a time, seconds apart. You will know the fireworks are coming to the big ending when it starts to get really noisy.
The ideal viewing area for the city's fireworks is along the river. The fireworks display will start at 10:40 p.m. This is the perfect time of night and right amount of darkness to get the full effect of the colourful, noisy light show.
The fireworks have only been rained out once in the past 17 years. But if it pours this year on Wednesday night, the fireworks will be postponed until the New Brunswick Day weekend.
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