A Behind the Scene's Look at a Fireworks Display


4th of July and fireworks. The two are practically synonymous here in New England. The aerial displays put on by our local towns and fire departments are a wonder to watch. If you saw the fireworks over the last week at the VSO concert in Pomfret at Suicide Six Ski Area, the 3rd of July Independence Day Celebration show in Brownsville on Mount Ascutney or the Old Home Day display in Hartland at the Recreation Center on the 4th then you witnessed the work of John Arrison, Northstar Fireworks Lead Shooter and his crew.



Arrison, a current select board member in Weathersfield, is a former volunteer fire fighter in town. He is the owner of Watts-Up Electric and he shoots off fireworks, legally. He has been working with Northstar Fireworks out of East Montpelier, Vermont for eight years after receiving training from them. "Surprisingly Vermont has no formal certification" he said in an email interview. In Vermont all fireworks (not including Sparklers and other novelty smoke devices) are illegal except for permitted, supervised public fireworks displays. (Vermont Sparklers and Fireworks Law Title 20 chapter 177 § 3061- 3136.)

Over the last eight years he's done shows in Quechee, Saxtons River, all the VSO's summer concert sites and his own backyard for his daughter's graduation a few year back. " The VSO shows are fun as you try to time your ending (the fireworks finale) to the Stars and Stripes."

Arrison and his crew arrive on site early in the day. Arrison around 1:30 p.m. (for the fireworks delivery) for a 9:30 p.m. display. His "guys" arrive around 4:30 to do layout and set-up. Helping him for his last six shows is Colby Hodgdon, a volunteer fire fighter with Ascutney Volunteer Fire Department; Mike Lewallen, a West Weathersfield Volunteer Fire Department firefighter; Chris Royce, who works for Arrison's Watts-Up electrical business and Chris's son Caleb. "I put him to work for the summer helping out with the fireworks during the hottest week of the year-he's not too happy with me right now" said Chris as father and son were securing the rack of tubes.

The racks of tubes get laid out on the ground. They are then secured in place with plywood. Each rack of tubes will hold six shells in varying sizes: 3 inch shells, 4 inch shells or five inch shells. Both the Brownsville and Hartland displays were created with 300 shells. 

The shows last about twenty minutes. That twenty minutes represents hours of set up and clean up from these five guys. They typically leave the site one-two hours after the show, after making sure the area is clean.

Northstar Fireworks shoots about 100 shows around the forth with at least 50 on the forth alone. Most shows cost between $5000 and $10,000. This was Arrison's first year working with Brownsville and Hartland. At both locations they were close enough to the spectators to hear the cheers, that's what makes their long day worth it. "It's really great when you can hear the clapping" he said before he suited up to start lighting the Hartland display's fuses.


More photos: CLICK HERE

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