Each year we are looking for new people to join our crew in many different capacities from fundraising to firing the show.  To be a technician you must be willing to put in a lot of hard work plus training on handling explosives.  Prerequisites include being over 18 years old and no felony convictions.  Alcohol is never allowed on a firing site and safety is always our first concern.

So what's involved in becoming a pyro?  Each year our crew has a meeting in the spring to plan the year.  We have a training night where we teach you the basics of pyrotechnics and safety.  Usually about a week before the 4th our product arrives from Sacramento and we have a night where we sort the shells to preplan the show.  The hard work starts a day or so before the 4th when we set up all of our mortars at Lake Siskiyou.  On the 4th we start the day around 10 AM to start loading the shells, wiring, testing and getting ready for show time.  With any luck we're done with the major part of the set up in time to enjoy a big pot luck dinner with our families and then we wait for show time.  During the show each crew member has an assigned task from firing, timing, fire watch, to making sure every shell breaks.  After the show we have to take down the set and load everything in the truck which takes awhile, usually until midnight or later.  There's a lot of clean up so everybody helps including your family.

If any of this sounds like something you are interested in you can contact Bill Jones,  Tom Haistings or one of our crew members.  

One other thing to remember is that we have 3 licensed Pyrotechnic Operators on our crew that have shows in other areas.  This year we are already planning to fire shows in Shasta Lake City on May 3rd, and will at the Rocklin Jubilee on June 28th.  Last year Reece and Tom did shows  for the California State Fair, the River Cats baseball games, Rocklin Jubilee and the Modesto Nuts minor league baseball games.