SEATTLE — For the first time in three years, fireworks returned to Lake Union in Seattle for Seafair's Fourth of July event.
"It's going to be covering the sky from 50 feet, up to 2,000 feet, pretty much it's going to be going off again," said David Fitzgibbon, the chief pyrotechnician with Oregon-based Western Display Fireworks, which is bringing the beloved Fourth of July tradition back to life. "We have straight-up shots and a bunch of angle shots.
About 10,000 pounds of fireworks were ignited for the show.
"We went from 480 shows down to like 20 that year, literally. It died," Fitzgibbon said. "But this year everybody's been calling us."
Seafair fireworks show returns for the first time in 3 years
Fitzgibbon and his crew spent the last few days prepping for the 21-minute show. It will include more than 10,000 pounds of fireworks and dozens of mortars placed on a 50-by-150-foot barge in the middle of the lake, all controlled by a state-of-the-art controller.
"They use this on the Olympics, competition shows, all over the world," Fitzgibbon said. "This can fire anywhere from one to a million shots all at once."
The fireworks show began at 10:20 p.m. and went off with a bang.
"That rush, yeah, it's kind of an indescribable feeling, I don't know, it's scary, but also really cool when you're seeing it all go off," Fitzgibbon said.
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