TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It’s a July 4th tradition that fills the skies just west of Tucson’s downtown: The “A” Mountain Fireworks.
KGUN9 got a look at the set-up ahead of the event.
Tubes set up on one of the parking lots on “A” Mountain are the launchers for the beautiful colors that light up “A” Mountain. The plan to 2022 called for launching close to a thousand fireworks. Kevin Luckenbill of Fireworks Productions of Arizona says the fireworks are precisely planned for that maximum Ooooh! factor.
“So we look at what size shells we have, how many of each shell we have a timing in between I mean, there's a lot of logistics that goes into figuring out where to set them up which ones go the highest and so the put them in areas that will be more exciting and that way you don't just see everything exploding in one spot. You know, it's nice to have a variety going up in the air, different heights, different designs, you know, there's a lot that goes into it.”
Part of the planning goes into safety. Big shells may be fired higher or in particular directions so anything left from the blast is less likely to float down and start a fire.
For almost a month Tucson Fire inspectors have been assessing how dry the mountain is. They’ll use water trucks to wet down before and after the show and have fire crews ready and hoses laid out to hit hot spots before they can grow.
Fire Inspector Jimmy Heinrichs says, “This year we also are going to have a drone. The drone is gonna fly around. It has infrared and it’s able to let us know if there's any hotspots and that can get relayed down to our firefighters on the side of the mountain. So we really have all aspects covered and that starts about four to six weeks out in advance.”
The city of Tucson covers the cost of Tucson Fire, Police to direct traffic, and other city services. The fireworks show costs about $28,000. The Tohono O’odham’s Desert Diamond Casinos is donating the cost of that.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
