Snoqualmie lights up the sky with a professional fireworks show
Published 12:27 pm Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Hundreds of spectators came to Community Park on the Ridge for a professional fireworks show by Entertainment Fireworks Monday night. In partnership with nonprofit organization Serve Snoqualmie, the Olympia-based fireworks company set off a 15-minute show with thousands of aerial effects.
Ken Julian, vice president of operations at Entertainment Fireworks, was at the park earlier in the day with his crew setting up the show. The company, which celebrated it’s 20th anniversary in February, has been working with Serve Snoqualmie, a branch of Church on the Ridge, since late 2015 to set up the show.
“They invited us up here, we started visiting the community as long ago as October,” he said. “There is a ban for some consumer fireworks so they wanted to make sure there was still a patriotic celebration for the community for the citizens here to enjoy.”
Julian, who has been in the fireworks business for 25 years, explained how their setup process works. When a group comes to Entertainment Fireworks to set up a show, Julian and his crew start with a site survey to determine the range needed to maintain safety for the spectators and nearby buildings. They also meet with the sponsor and local fire and police departments to discuss the expectations of the show and any safety measures needed.
“We are certainly visiting a lot with the sponsor to see what their expectations are. There are permits that have to be procured, there are licenses that we have to have,” he said. “You have to be familiar with the distances and the space you have because we have to define a safety zone. Once we do that, and identify what investment they are comfortable with or have to offer, then we begin to put it together and propose inventory, a great variety of inventory, within the limitations of the size we have to work with and go from there.”
The distance an effect travels is relative to the size of the aerial shell. Due to that safety precaution the safety zone determined for the event was 250 feet in every direction.
The show was a mix of computer-activated and hand-fired effects. A combination of different aerial shells and ground based effects lit up the sky. The aerial effects used by Entertainment Fireworks for the Snoqualmie show were 2.5- to 3-inch shells, which climbed 250 to 300 feet before exploding in cloud of colors. Julian estimated there were about 3,500 different effects used in the show.
He also explained that his knowledge of how to run a good show came from his two decades of experience.
“You learn over time some of the things people have been doing for decades in terms of color transitions, pacing and a lot of the same notions that you hear almost any kind of artist talk about,” Julian said. “It’s a lot of work, but there is nothing like being able to shoot a show and right after hearing the gratification and applause from the spectators. That’s generally a pretty good indication of how you did.”
For more pictures, visit our flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskCLxVe6
