A pyro-tech's 4th

[trooperdan]

I work on a fireworks crew, mostly as a hobby. On the 3rd, we had a show at Seymore-Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. I believe the actual temperature was 103 with a heat index of over 110. I expected to be setting up on tarmac and was relieved to find that our site was grass.. on the base golf course, if you can believe it!
We started building the racks for for a nearly 1,000 shell show about noon. The tubes are plastic HDPE, in wood racks of 5 to 10 tubes, depending on caliber. These racks are nailed together with planks into a stable structure that will not tip under any circumstance. The heat was amazing! I drank what seemed like gallons of gator-aide and water and coated myself with sunscreen... which only seemed to increase the sweating! We worked constantly in direct sun until the 9:00 show-time, hand-fired the show.. the concussion of a 5-inch mortar going off just 3 feet away is impressive! Worse thing is, you don't get to watch the show when you hand-fire!

After a 25 minute show and a 15 minute cool-down. then we had to breakdown the racks and reload the truck. We didn't finish until 1:00 AM and I was well and truly exhausted. We had another show at Atlantic Beach NC on the 4th. At the beach, we did have a constant breeze but more direct sun and we didn't finish until 2:00 AM. Slept six hours and drove home. I was eight pounds lighter even after the gallons of liquid I drank.

I'm beginning to think that this just might be more fun than this old man can stand!

[gwpercle]

If your getting paid for all this work then thats great.

If you are doing all this for free, it's not sounding like such a good deal, unless your hooked on pyrotechnics.

The amount of work you're describing sounds grueling, I don't think I could do it even if well paid and if I were under 40. It might be time to renegotiate your contract.

But a good fireworks show is allways fun to watch.

[Blacksmith]

TD
I was stationed at Seymore Johnson 40 + years ago. We had a B-52 Bomber Wing that carried some really big pyrotechnics

[trooperdan]

Yeah, Was it a B-52 from there that lost "a big pyrotechnic" over South Carolina back in the '50's?

[Longwood]

I live near Palm Springs California where contractors work in the sun when it is well over 100 degrees.
They drink lots of Gator-Ade mixed 50-50 with water.
The doctors here advise to use it but say not to drink it straight and that the other brands are lacking.

[Blacksmith]

TD
No we lost several over Spain, they were all found, but one was lost in NC not far from the base that was never recovered and as far as I know is still there.

The followiing are from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents

January 24, 1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash – Physical destruction of a nuclear bomb, loss of nuclear materials
A USAF B-52 bomber caught fire and exploded in midair due to a major leak in a wing fuel cell 12 miles (19 km) north of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. Five crewmen parachuted to safety, but three died—two in the aircraft and one on landing. The incident released the bomber's two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs. Three of the four arming devices on one of the bombs activated, causing it to carry out many of the steps needed to arm itself, such as the charging of the firing capacitors and, critically, the deployment of a 100-foot (30 m) diameter retardation parachute. The parachute allowed the bomb to hit the ground with little damage. The fourth arming device — the pilot's safe/arm switch — was not activated preventing detonation. The second bomb plunged into a muddy field at around 700 mph (300 m/s) and disintegrated. Its tail was discovered about 20 feet (6 m) down and much of the bomb recovered, including the tritium bottle and the plutonium. However, excavation was abandoned due to uncontrollable ground water flooding. Most of the thermonuclear stage, containing uranium, was left in situ. It is estimated to lie around 55 feet (17 m) below ground. The Air Force purchased the land and fenced it off to prevent its disturbance, and it is tested regularly for contamination, although none has so far been found.[32]

I was on base when this next one happened.

January 17, 1966 – Palomares incident – Accidental destruction, loss and recovery of nuclear bombs
A USAF B-52 carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a USAF KC-135 jet tanker during over-ocean in-flight refueling. Four of the B-52's seven crew members parachuted to safety while the remaining three were killed along with all four of the KC-135's crew. The conventional explosives in two of the bombs detonated upon impact with the ground, dispersing plutonium over nearby farms. A third bomb landed intact near Palomares while the fourth fell 12 miles (19 km) off the coast into the Mediterranean sea. The US Navy conducted a three month search involving 12,000 men and successfully recovered the fourth bomb. The U.S. Navy employed the use of the deep-diving research submarine DSV Alvin to aid in the recovery efforts. During the ensuing cleanup, 1,500 tonnes (1,700 short tons) of radioactive soil and tomato plants were shipped to a nuclear dump in Aiken, South Carolina. The U.S. settled claims by 522 Palomares residents for $600,000. The town also received a $200,000 desalinization plant. The motion picture Men of Honor (2000), starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., as USN Diver Carl Brashear, and Robert De Niro as USN Diver Billy Sunday, contained an account of the fourth bomb's recovery.[46]

Here is the one you were talking about.

March 11, 1958 – Mars Bluff, South Carolina, USA – Non-nuclear detonation of a nuclear bomb
A USAF B-47 bomber flying from Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia accidentally released an atomic bomb.[26] A home was destroyed and several people injured but the bomb's plutonium core did not explode.[27]

Accidents happen all the time. The government will take care of everything.

[smokey496]

I enjoyed the show at emerald isle. Watched it off my parents back porch.

[10x]

Ah, the best pyrotecnics show I ever sat was in Edmonton in 1965. It was about 10:00 pm, the grandstand show had been cancelled because of the heavy rain and lightning.
And about 2 seconds after they announced the stage show (with Rosemary Clooney) had been cancelled lightning struck the fireworks setup. Everything that was electrically detonated went up all in one go. It was spectacular in the pouring rain. Then there must have been some stuff on delayed fuses that went up. After about two minutes it was all quiet, then the fireworks crew must have decided to run the show to do any thing that was left. For the next ten minutes a rocket or flare would ignite sporadically - but nothing has ever compared to the first twenty seconds of that show.

[MT Gianni]

WE were camped in one of the most remote scenic spots in the lower 48. Only 40 miles from West Yellowstone we were in a valley of 50 miles length with about 10 ranches. Our campsite on the 3rd had 12 spaces, 5 were taken by a total of 8 people. On the 4th there were 4 of us in two sites. We went for a walk about dusk and while coming back saw fireworks at a ranch 1 1/2 miles away. We didn't slow down as the mosquitoes were as thick as I have seen them and so big you could only fit 5 on a grill skewer. It was great to see the flash and hear the boom after a 7 second count. We live in a wonderful country.