By VICKY TORRES
Scripps Howard News Service
Next Wednesday evening, millions of Americans from coast-to-coast will cap off the Fourth of July holiday by watching a fireworks show.
But for a few hardy souls in the pyrotechnics business, Independence Day is just another night at the office.
Eric Tucker's "office" next Wednesday will be at the Charles River Esplanade in the heart of Boston. For the fifth year, Tucker will be choreographing the Liberty Mutual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. The performance will be televised live from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. on CBS and will feature the Boston Pops' traditional rendition of the "1812 Overture."
"Believe it or not, people actually pay me to do this," said Tucker, choreographer and show designer for Pyro Spectaculars, based in Rialto, Calif.
The Fourth of July is the biggest show of the year for most pyrotechnicians. But for Tucker and Lansden Hill, whose firm puts on the massive Independence Day show on the National Mall in Washington D.C., it's merely another night on the road.
"We do over 150 shows a year," said Hill, president and owner of Pyro Shows, which is based in LaFollette, Tenn. "We have shows every weekend all year long."
Tucker, 54, has put together shows in the United States, China and most of Europe. He has participated in 14 Super Bowls, the Winter Olympics in Calgary and Salt Lake City, and at several theme parks, including Disneyland and Disneyworld. He has also toured with several musicians including the Rolling Stones, AC/DC and Black Sabbath, providing them with special effects.
The job is not for amateurs. Both Tucker and Hill have more than 25 years of experience dealing with volatile explosives. And safety is paramount.
"We have three guidelines that we follow," Tucker said. "First, is to protect the public, second, to protect ourselves and third, to do the show."
As a safety measure, fireworks material at Pyro Spectaculars is tested by the company's pyrotechnicians where it is purchased, in Italy, Spain, China and Portugal, before it is transported to the United States. Once products arrive, they are re-tested in America for safety, timing and effects.
"Before the show, we've already seen what's going to be on the show," Tucker said.
Even with all of the safety measures, though, sometimes accidents happen.
Ten years ago, an explosion ripped through Hill's company's warehouse in LaFollette, killing four workers.
According to Hill, the cause of the explosion was never determined.
"That has been the lowest point in my professional career," said Hill, 56.
The terrorist attacks on 9/11 had a ripple effect on the fireworks industry that has caused it to be more heavily regulated, Hill said.
"We all had to go through criminal background checks," Hill said. "We have to account for every individual that we have. It didn't used to be that way. We understand and we certainly accept it."
This will be the seventh year that Hill's Pyro Shows Inc. will be organizing the Fourth of July fireworks in the nation's capital, which will be televised on PBS stations.
Hill said his team will coordinate the fireworks display with the performance of the National Symphony Orchestra. Music is an integral part of many fireworks shows.
"If there is a theme, they may ask us to direct our music to that theme," Hill said.
After songs are selected, they match the music's tempo and lyrics with fireworks.
"There is a wide range of effects that are available to us," Hill said. "For example, in the word love, we may shoot a firework in a shape of a heart."
The end result is always worth it, Hill said.
"It's a huge adrenaline rush and it's show business," he said. "It's an opportunity to perform if you can't sing and you can't dance."
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Fireworks Facts:
--It takes between 15,000 - 20,000 lbs. of material and 10-15 workers for large displays.
--Light travels at 670,616,625.6 miles per hour while sound travels at 742 miles per hour. That is why you see the fireworks before you hear them.
--Most shows run from 5 to 35 minutes.
--Colors are made from building shells with bright burning metallic salts, which may be intensified by adding chlorine compounds. The salts are tightly packed into balls called stars, and placed inside the shell.
--Different packing of the stars in shells form shapes.
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