It's time to blow $%!# up!
But first a word from a pyrotechnics expert…
Patrick Wood
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: News
Prospectus: So what kind of license do you have to have to do the work that you do?
Hunnicutt: I'm licensed in Texas under two different licenses: Pyrotechnics Operator, which allows me to do the larger "4th of July" style aerial displays and Special Effects Operator, which allows me to do smaller up-close stuff like concerts, movie effects, and closer 4th of July type stuff (like things that are shot inside stadiums and such).
Prospectus: What did you have to do/go through to get your license(s)?
Hunnicutt: Well, it's different from state to state, but in Texas, there's an apprenticeship type system. You have to work as an assistant on five, 1.3G (it's a classification of pyro, it's the "bigger" aerial stuff) before you qualify to test. Then, you need to study all the laws and regulations regarding the use, handling, and storage of explosives. After that, it's a written test (a different test for each license). If you pass, you get your license. Fail, and you have to come back and try again. And everyone has to go through a federal background screening through the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms).
Prospectus: You said that you've almost been killed several times. Can you elaborate?
Hunnicutt: Well, there were quite a few instances. One that stands out the most was when we were firing a show for a local marina for the 4th of July. We didn't have as much "escape room" behind us as I'd usually like because we were shooting off the shore of the lake. I positioned our shoot table (where we fire the stuff electronically) near where the bank of the lake sloped off. About halfway into the show, a five-inch shell (that's diameter measurement), which has enough explosive force to blow the axle off your car, lobbed out of the tube and arced right at us. I grabbed my shooter and threw him to the ground on the slope. I ducked and the explosive force blew over us. When we measured the impact after the show (yes, we got up and finished the show), it had landed about 15 feet from where we were.
Hunnicutt: I'm licensed in Texas under two different licenses: Pyrotechnics Operator, which allows me to do the larger "4th of July" style aerial displays and Special Effects Operator, which allows me to do smaller up-close stuff like concerts, movie effects, and closer 4th of July type stuff (like things that are shot inside stadiums and such).
Prospectus: What did you have to do/go through to get your license(s)?
Hunnicutt: Well, it's different from state to state, but in Texas, there's an apprenticeship type system. You have to work as an assistant on five, 1.3G (it's a classification of pyro, it's the "bigger" aerial stuff) before you qualify to test. Then, you need to study all the laws and regulations regarding the use, handling, and storage of explosives. After that, it's a written test (a different test for each license). If you pass, you get your license. Fail, and you have to come back and try again. And everyone has to go through a federal background screening through the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms).
Prospectus: You said that you've almost been killed several times. Can you elaborate?
Hunnicutt: Well, there were quite a few instances. One that stands out the most was when we were firing a show for a local marina for the 4th of July. We didn't have as much "escape room" behind us as I'd usually like because we were shooting off the shore of the lake. I positioned our shoot table (where we fire the stuff electronically) near where the bank of the lake sloped off. About halfway into the show, a five-inch shell (that's diameter measurement), which has enough explosive force to blow the axle off your car, lobbed out of the tube and arced right at us. I grabbed my shooter and threw him to the ground on the slope. I ducked and the explosive force blew over us. When we measured the impact after the show (yes, we got up and finished the show), it had landed about 15 feet from where we were.
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