Behind The Scenes At The MV Fireworks Display

Everyone enjoys the Moapa Valley 4th of July fireworks from some valley vantage point, but very few people really know what goes on behind the scenes to this well attended show to the public.

If anyone does know exactly what goes on during the show it is James Robison. Robison has over 30 years experience in running the community’s fireworks display.

In recent years, Robison has passed the fireworks baton to other members of the community. Volunteer Firefighter, Elwin Brown, who is licensed and trained to handle pyrotechnics, has been in charge of the show for the last few years. But this year, Brown was going to be out of town. So Robison was called back into service to do the job.

Robison says that when he first started doing the show it took place at what is now the Middle School. “The audience sat in the bleachers on the football field, and we shot them from the baseball field,” Robison said. “But that was a tricky site because of all the buildings. We were limited in the size of our fireworks. When we moved the celebration to the Fairgrounds it really opened up all kinds of possibilities for the show.”

Robison said he first had to raise money to purchase the fireworks, and then he had to find a good company who could produce the fireworks that fit the community’s needs. Now Moapa Valley is still purchasing fireworks from Fireworks West, the company that Robison used for many years.

“Fireworks range in size and type,” he said. “They range from one to 20 inches, and they all fly to different heights. The biggest ones used in the show here in Moapa Valley were 10 inch fireworks.” Robison explains that it takes a great deal of planning to provide a good show with fireworks of varying sizes.

“A six inch firework will go up quite a bit higher than a three inch, so you can shoot a couple of three inch fireworks up closer to the audience, at the same time you shoot a six incher back farther. That kind of thing provides depth and it makes the show fun to watch, ” he said.

Robison reflects that in the old days, he would hand light every round with a torch. “But times have changed,” he said. “Now they control everything by computer.”

He said that Elwin Brown and Daniel Pray can now control each firework and synchronize each explosion with music. Each firework comes with it’s own electric squid, and the whole show is connected by a web of wires.

“Since the year 2000 they’ve been doing the show with the computer, and it’s great the way they can plan each part ahead of time.,” Robison said. “It takes a lot of time to carefully read a sheet that tells you exactly what each firework looks like, how long it takes and so on. That way you can control the entire show with one computer, instead of having 10 guys out there running around lighting fireworks. It’s also a lot safer, ” said Robison.

It takes a crew of men approximately eight hours to set up all of the fireworks, get them all connected to the computer and run tests. These tests can be run without ever actually firing a shot. “We get a crew together to work the night before while it’s cool,” said Robison. Once things are set up one or two people have to keep watch over the wires throughout the day to make sure that no one tampers with the fireworks.

When the fireworks actually started there were men and firetrucks standing by all around the perimeter of the show. They were on hand to make sure everything went as planned, and everyone was safe. The crowd, as always, was delighted with the huge bright display in the sky. “It really is a big show now a days,” Robison said.