Shannon Martin -- Pyrotechnic Engineer
Shannon Martin had the good fortune to work for Dave Zardeneta of Pismo Beach many years ago and it was at Dave's insistence that Shannon became what he is today: a pyrotechnic engineer. Shannon is so involved with doing the Pismo Beach 4th of July's Firework's Show that he made two special trips back here just to do the show and one of those trips brought him here from Washington, D.C. and the other trip was from Australia to Pismo Beach. He is proud to say he is very faithful to the show and he has been in charge of it for the last fifteen (15) years.
The pier is initially wet-down several times before anything begins and this is done by volunteers (thank you Dick Keenan) and the Pismo Beach Fire Department. It takes 24 people to conduct the show. It normally would take 4 to 5 people for three days to do the task but this group only has 9 hours. The tubes which hold the projectiles, or bombs as they are called, come to Shannon full of debris so the first chore is to take the debris out of the tubes. The racks are nailed to the pier at an specific angled. There is a special finale rack which takes a great deal of construction. The finale consists of 300 shells. A pseudo finale is shot mid-way through the show in order to entice the crowd and to create a 'wave' effect with enthusiasm and excitement. The distance required between the tubes and the crowd is the NPA Rule of 70' per inch of tube diameter away from the crowd. The shells are egg-shaped, made of paper mache and contain a black powder lift charge, a fuse, powdered metals to produce color, and strategically placed compressed balls of powder called stars. All this is put together in such a way as to produce the spectacular displays.
The show begins at 9:15 p.m. and the two person teams who light the displays are orchestrated by Shannon. The crew doesn't work on the tubes once the tubes are loaded. Shannon inspects the tubes after they have been loaded and places a piece of red tape over each tube. Shannon designs the show using HDPE tubes rather than metal tubes which are required for 'Reload' shows and have more risk.
The show is 30 minutes and there is a Master Timer that sets off the minutes, out loud, in five minute increments so the crew is aware of how much time has past and how much time is left. The 'wave' effect is used to get the crowd's attention. The finale has 200 tubes going off, all at once.