UPDATED WITH VIDEO: Working Magic on the Fourth of July

Zambelli Fireworks International out of New Castle, PA was on hand once again to set up and execute the 4th of July fireworks show in Orange on Friday night.

It took a little more than 25 minutes to set off more than 300 shells for the show courtesy of Michele Collins and numerous generous donors. .

Chris Gourley has been involved with the Zambelli company for 10 years. He said the pay isn’t great, but for everyone involved, himself included, it is something that the behind the scenes workers wanted to do since they were kids.

“It was like, ‘hey, I want to do that.’” he said. “You never work toward it, but then a door opens and you say, ‘wow, I’m one of those guys.’”

He said very few people ever work toward becoming a licensed technician. Of his crew, three were licensed and the apprentices were working under their licenses.

 In order to become licensed, you must have three years of on the job training and know the state regulations inside and out, according to Gourley. Then you have to prove your efficiency at doing a show.

Gourley said setting up fireworks is a dangerous job. Black powder is not all that stable, under the right circumstances static electricity can set it off, but that doesn’t happen a lot.

Behind the scenes you will see wooden “crates” filled with tall black tubes (guns) in separate areas. One section contains all the fireworks for the finale which are tied together. According to Fire Marshal Tim Smith, the technicians light one fuse and all of the final fireworks go off in sequence. Others that you see throughout the show are  3, 4 or 5-inch shells that are set off individually.

“It’s sensitive to shock, so if you drop one, it could go off, if you drop something on one it could go off” he said. “But like everything, you put on so many shows and nothing happens so you become complacent. That’s the worst part of this whole thing. It becomes a habit that when you do get a wake up call, your eyes get so big.”

Gourley said he’s had wake up calls that were not his fault, but perhaps they were … because maybe he didn’t check something that someone else did while setting up.   

He said the science of making fireworks is a highly guarded secret and it’s all in the way the powder is packed inside.

Each firework is placed inside a long tube with the fuse sticking out side giving the technician enough time to light it, and get away before it shoots up into the air.

What the folks on the Orange fairgrounds saw was only the “glory part” of the process.

When it was over, as cars slowly snaked out of the exits, Smith went to inspect the "pit" and announced that three fireworks had not fired properly and had to be set off.

Fire Chief Charlie Gagel stopped traffic near the back exit and when it was safe, the pyros lit the three remaining shells up and those revelers remaining on the fairgrounds were treated to a bonus mini-show.