Amid the colourful bursts and loud bangs Tuesday night, the Flin Flon skyline was all the rave.
To celebrate Canada Day the Flin Flon Fireworks Committee put on its best fireworks show yet, according to president Bryant Fraser.
“Our shows are progressively getting bigger and better,” said Fraser. “And it’s hard to top the last year’s show.”
This year’s show, postponed a day by the weather, cost $10,000 and lasted 40 minutes, lighting up the sky over Ross Lake as Flin Flonners watched and often cheered.
To top last year’s show, the committee brought in cake fireworks, which Fraser described as a box containing tubes that are loaded with fireworks.
Each box contains 36 fireworks, and this year’s show featured four cakes.
Fraser says the cake fireworks are both easier to work with and offer a better show.
“It’s something new and it works really well,” he said.
Wind restrictions
Flin Flon’s Canada Day fireworks were scheduled for Monday, June 30 at midnight, but strong winds forced the committee to postpone the show.
“There are wind restrictions we have [to follow],” said Fraser, adding that fireworks are not permitted in winds over 20 kilometres an hour.
Fraser made the decision at 5 p.m. Monday to postpone the show.
“It’s not safe for us and it’s not safe for the city,” he said, noting that setting fireworks off in strong winds can result in fires and damage to houses.
Fraser says while the sun came out later Monday evening, the winds were still strong.
“It’s not like doing home fireworks where it’s on the ground and you shoot them off,” he said.
“It’s more than just setting them up – you have to plan a show.”
To prepare for the show the following night, there were 14 palettes of equipment hauled to the rocks above Ross Lake.
Volunteers and those qualified to set off the fireworks spend the day before a show setting up and then another six to eight hours to load the fireworks.
“Once they are loaded, someone has to sit with them all day,” said Fraser.
Disappointed
While some were disappointed by the postponement, Fraser said it wasn’t up to him to decide whether the fireworks would be safe.
Fraser has been a part of the committee for the past seven years and this isn’t the first time a show had to be postponed due to weather conditions.
When the fireworks did go off, area residents and visitors alike took in the show, many of enjoying the vantage point of Flinty’s Boardwalk.
Those who attended the show were pleased as rave reviews quickly surfaced in social media like Facebook and Instagram.
Like no other
Fraser holds a level 2 certification for fireworks that allows him to shoot off fireworks in a six-inch shell.
He is currently working towards his level 1, which would allow for 12-inch shells.
Like years past the committee brought in a level 1-certified pyrotechnician from CanFire Pyrotechnic Ltd. to ensure that Flin Flon got the best bang for its buck.
Fraser says the local show over Ross Lake is like no other in northern Manitoba.
“We have aquatic [fireworks] and the designated spot up there [on the rocks],” he said.
Typically fireworks are set off over top of fields, but Ross Lake plays the perfect location for the show over the water.
“People just love to come up here and see the show,” said Fraser.
