TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — For over four years, Jen Dalman and her dad Spike Jardel have been working to make the twenty sixth annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration in Tucson a reality.
They are pyrotechnicians and worked to carefully prepare each shell.
“I like blowing stuff up,” Jardel said.
The father and daughter duo consider themselves dare devils and say they’re crazy.
“We are! There ain’t nothing we won’t do especially if we can do it together and the crazier the better!” Jardel said.
While they say they’re crazy, lighting the fireworks also comes with a little danger to light off over 950 shells.
“Sometimes when we’re done, one will just shoot out of nowhere. They fall over occasionally. We do everything we can to keep everything as safe as possible,” Dalman said.
While it takes weeks of figuring out the equipment, for Jen and her dad, what makes it all worth it is the excitement.
“To seek out new things that are new and unique. How many people get to say, I set off the grand finale?” Jardel said.
However, they’re just two of the 12 pyrotechnicians working on the 25 minute show.
Daniel McCabe has been doing the show for 24 years and this year was his 22-year-old daughter Rayna’s fifth year.
“It’s become a big part of the time that we spend together especially as she becomes an adult,” Daniel McCabe said.
Rayna grew up watching the shows and for her, it’s a learning experience.
“Him teaching me a lot of if I’m doing the wrong thing or making sure I’m ok,” she said.
