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Pyromania, an event in the St Louis area annually in the fall of the year is one of the largest gathering of pyrotechnicians in the United States.  The event is a 3-4 day long festival, with the public being invited on Saturday nights to witness magical fireworks displays from some of the very best choreographer’s and technicians in the world.  Pyromania was founded by Ed Vasel with help from Brian Thiemann, Kevin Kemper and Scott Fleer.   2018 was Pyromania’s 13th consecutive year and part of the event is a Pro-Am competition, although fair goers would say it certainly is more pro than am!

Dominator Fireworks has been a major sponsor of the event since it’s inception, and competitors routinely use the high end product for their technical displays.  This year was no different, enter Josh Wetmore from Putsburgh PA.  Josh competed for his first time this year at Pyromania and walked away with the first place trophy.  Josh has been a key crew member for both IPC (Innovative Pyrotechnic Displays) and Team Dominator, working with them on their large 2017 display at the FPAG 25th Anniversary display.

Josh’s 10 minute competition display used 1,231 cues and utilized much of Dominator product line including cakes and single shot comets mines, and slices.  We asked JOsh his overall take away from the event and here is what he had to say:

“It took me a month of scripting whenever I could find free time… me and my buddy mike prepped all the product in 2 days at the barn… a 5 man crew set up most of it in the field on Wednesday…. the same crew was also setting up Michael Richards & Tim Jameson’s big 1.3 show…. lil Josh, Steve from Florida and myself buttoned things up and set the towers up on the day of the show… lots of people lent a hand on both shows during the week, Big shout out to the members of NEOPG for their efforts….

Overall opinion on Pyromania… The event was great… Very nice shoot site and a fantastic sound system… It was awsome getting to shoot in front of a huge crowed that payed to be the event exclusively to watch fireworks… the crowed was hyped up and very responsive”

Winning this years competition puts Josh in the pool for the “Champion of Champions” competition where every 4 year, the 3 prior years winners compete against each other for the regarded title.  You can se video of Josh’s award winning display here.

 

 

 

“Quiet” Fireworks, how to celebrate respectfully.

Although more and more states, and locales are legalizing fireworks, most recently Iowa and Georgia in the USA it has brought some friction among residents, both for and against the age old pops and bangs used to celebrate freedoms, religions and many festivals around the world.

Pyrotechnic enthusiasts all appreciate the vast array of colors produced by the magical metal powders, and most enjoy a good loud, chest thumping burst in the sky to get the heart beating.  One of the loudest, and most popular “effects” is the Titanium Salute, it is just a bright flash of light followed by a thundering boom that can be heard for miles, often setting off car alarms in the vicinity with it’s concussion.  Salutes are limited to professionals and only seen in large town displays and festivals.

Here is a video example of Titanium Salutes:

On the flip side, for the consumers celebrating in the thousands of towns around the world the very loud fireworks can cause frustration.  Especially for people with sensitive pets, or even veterans who can be disturbed by the louder noises.  Alas!  There is a solution for those wanting to celebrate respectfully of their neighbors, as there are plenty of fireworks that do not break the decibal meters, or a dog’s ears.  These fireworks can include both aerial and ground devices.

Let’s first look at some common ground and handheld pyrotechnics that would fit the bill perfectly.

• Sparklers.  Loudness rating: 1.  Available in many colors and effects including crackling and color stars.
• Smoke Balls.  Loudness Rating: 1.  Available in every color of the rainbow, best used in the daytime.
• Fountains.  Loudness Rating: 1-3.  Fountains have many effects available and can range from almost silent to a moderately loud crackle.  Always read the performance description on the label.
• Snaps.  Loudness Rating: 1.  A favorite for the kiddo’s, just toss em on the ground for a quick “snap”
• Sky Lanterns.  Loudness Rating: 0.  Completely silent, even popular at funerals as a memorial send off.

 

Here is a video example of a quiet Fountain:

Now let’s take a look at some more exciting products, aerial devices! (that are still very low noise) These products usually shoot a shell or tube into the air that then breaks into it’s designed effect.

• Roman Candles.  Loudness Rating: 3.  Candles come in many effects, and are generally quiter than larger cake, or repeater type devices as they use a smaller diameter tube.
• Parachutes.  Loudness Rating: 2.  Parachutes are great to keep the kids ebtertained during the day and emit very little noise at all.
• Flying Fish Effect.  Loudness Rating: 3.  Fish are a very neat effect available in many colors, the effect does not require a hard “break” to open the shell, and the colors seem to float and spread into the sky.
• Waterfalls.  Loudness Rating: 3.  Waterfalls, or Horsetails are another soft breaking effect while still producing a dazzling display in the night sky.
• Comets.  Loudness Rating: 3.  Comets are a trail from the ground up into the sky until they burn out and can be very pretty.

 

Here is an example of a comet cake:

So don’t be discouraged, hopefully this article helps for those who enjoy celebrating with fireworks but is an area where noise is an issue.

 

 

 

Fireworks Safety Tips

   Starting today 15 October, shops across the UK will begin selling tons of fireworks for the upcoming Bonfire night holiday across the UK.   Every year many calls are made to local authorities reporting incorrect use of fireworks, or bon-fires out of control.

Many calls involve children playing with fireworks while unsupervised, or using them in methods other than intended.  Local authorities have published several web pages and documents with guidelines to the safe use of fireworks and safe bon-fire suggestions.

Below are some excellent guidelines and suggestions to help celebrate safely for the sake of both people, and property.

The fireworks

• Only buy fireworks carrying a CE mark.
• Don’t drink alcohol if setting off fireworks.
• Keep fireworks in a closed box.
• Follow the manufacturers instructions on each firework.
• Always light at arm’s length, using a taper.
• Stand well back, light fuse and get away!
• Never go near a firework that has been lit. Even if it hasn’t gone off, it could still explode.
• Never put fireworks in your pocket or throw them.
• Fireworks should only be used under adult supervision.
• Light sparklers one at a time and wear skin protection, such as gloves.   A large portion of burns are from sparklers.
• Never give sparklers to a child under five.
• Keep pets indoors, leave TV or Radio on to help drown out sound.

 

Bonfire safety

• Site well away from houses, garages, sheds, fences, overhead cables, trees and shrubs and always away from fireworks.
• Build the stack so that it is stable and will not collapse outwards or to one side.
• Never use flammable liquids such as paraffin or petrol to light the fire.
• Don’t burn foam-filled furniture, aerosols, tins of paint or bottles.
• Keep everyone away from the fire – especially children, who must be supervised all the time.
• For an emergency, keep buckets of water or the garden hose or a fire extinguisher ready.
• Pour water on the embers before leaving.

 

Further, below are some links to additional excellent information, always check with your local authorities.

https://bucksfire.gov.uk/communities/section/firework-code/

 

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Today is Mid-Autumn Festival in China.   It is one of four key festivals for Chinese.    It has been celebrated for 2,000 years and falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.    It is a celebration of the fall harvest and is marked by stunning full moons and the tradition of gifting and eating “moon cakes”, which are sort of the Chinese equivalent to a fruit cake.   But instead of dried fruit, they often have an egg yolk in their center!

Where is it celebrated?

Major celebrations take place in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Many in the East Asian diaspora also observe the holiday, with families in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere gathering to mark the autumn thanksgiving festival.

In Vietnam, where the holiday is known as Trung Thu, children play games, don masks and march in nighttime lantern parades.  Unfortunately, several reports of fires and injuries are reported every year during the festival mainly from sky lanterns.

For the fireworks world, Mid-Autumn Festival marks the earnest start of the USA production season.    The factories are just now opening after a long summer shut-down.   The challenge is that European orders must finish by October in order to arrive in time for their Jan 1 selling date.   Also, China domestic production is beginning as well for February  sales.   So USA orders are competing with European and Chinese production.   I will begin sending out the weekly status updates on production soon.    We will introduce a new stock order form that updates with live quantities.    Look for the new form soon.

Dominator just returned from the NFA where we had a successful expo.   Thank you to everyone that stopped by the booth or enjoyed a meal with us.   It was great seeing all of you again.

All the best,

Matt Palaszynski

 

Tornado VS Fireworks:  Tornado destroys fireworks storage facility in Georgia, March 2018.

March 2018 found a tornado screaming across the state of Georgia, and directly in it’s path was a local fireworks storage facility.

As the pictures tell the tale, the building, like several other structures in the town were a total loss.  The owner of the fireworks company tells us that the remarkable thing was, how well the actual fireworks withstood the storm!  Although the building was destroyed and the ensuing wind and rain pounded the exposed fireworks and cardboard cartons, they faired pretty good and actual product loss was MUCH lower than one might expect, less than 10%

Workers immediately started cleaning and sorting through product, expecting much worse…but were pleasantly surprised how well the product held up inside the cartons, and spent several days inspecting and sorting what was safe to sale and what would need to be destroyed.

We ALWAYS recommend keeping fireworks in a secure, dry location away from other flammable materials, but this story just proves sometimes mother nature has the upper hand!

 

 

 

Dominator Fireworks was recently mentioned in a Bloomburg Businessweek article highlighting the display firework business and it’s revenues as fireworks are used nation and worldwide to ring in the New Year.

Dominator Fireworks has seen a steady rise in orders placed for delivery in time for end of the year celebrations worldwide in recent years.  The average cycle for an order to be processed and delivered is currently about six months.  USA display companies will commonly place their orders for New Years Eve displays immediately after their busy July 4th season in hopes of delivery by early December each year.  A large amount of that time is travel.  Once the fireworks have been manufactured they are loaded into steel shipping containers in Hunan, China (Where 90% of the worlds fireworks are now made) they are trucked to a river port for a 5-6 day barge trip to one of China’s major coastal shipping ports, usually Shangai.  The containers are then loaded onto a freight ship for an average 12 day trip the west coast of the USA where they are offloaded and then either railed or trucked to their final destination for a total trip time averaging 5 weeks.

In 2015, labor disputes at the largest port accepting fireworks in Long Beach, CA have delayed things further.  Some reports say vessels have been sitting offshore waiting to unload goods for almost a month in extreme cases.  This could become critical to the consumer fireworks market if an agreement is not reached soon, as the busy shipping season for consumer fireworks starts in March with the bulk of thousands of containers due to arrive annually between March 1st and May 30.