 Almost everyone has attended a fireworks show set up by local fire departments. While most attend the fireworks presentation for, you know, the fireworks, it's difficult to imagine what goes on behind the scenes. For most departments, it takes weeks to prepare for Independence Day celebrations. The guys at the fire department have been for the past week inspecting our equipment, cleaning the mortar tubes, checking the racks, making sure everything is safe. Even on the day of the actual event, fire crews work diligently to make sure props and fireworks are set up properly. There's grounds keeping that has to be done, trees trimmed. Then there are several holes that have to be dug. We use metal mortar tubes that are planted in the ground. We also have display racks that have to be put together and mounted. Then we have what we call our special effects boxes and our finale boxes. Those are all fired electronically. And we're not talking about your average Roman candle, bottle rocket, or firecracker. The men and women working behind the scenes are handling the big stuff. This is a dual stage explosive. When you light the fuse, the bottom part ignites. That's what shoots this up into the air. Once it gets up to a predetermined height, then it lights a secondary fuse which ignites the actual display which is the round part on top. While new members work their way up in the fire department, they also progress on the pyrotechnics crew. You first start out as a loader, and that means until the show gets ready, you're general labor. Fire chief usually does our wiring. We also have people who are inspecting the fireworks, getting them ready to make sure everything's good. And we always maintain a safety person who stands back and oversees everyone. In the end, the lengthy process and preparation that goes into the production is worth it. And the end results are stunning. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB News, I'm Shelby Steele.