Livermore July 4 fireworks show a labor of love for part-time pyrotechnician
LIVERMORE – Cities across the Bay Area are hosting 4th of July fireworks shows, including Livermore's "Salute to the 4th of July".
The setup for the fireworks show takes up most of the outfield at the softball fields at South Livermore Avenue and Concannon Boulevard. The show will be about 20 minutes long and is carefully choreographed by one pyrotechnician.
"I do it for the love of it, and I've been doing it for almost 30 years," says James Wolf. His passion in life is fireworks. He can pick up any mortar and tell you exactly what it will look like in the sky.
"This right here is what's called a comet, and so when this shell goes up, this comet puts a trail on it," Wolf told KPIX, holding a shell.
He is the one behind the design of this year's Livermore fireworks show - something he says he can see in his mind after years of experience.
"The customer will say, 'well I want it to last 20 minutes.' What kind of music? And then you just sit there with an assortment of shells and pick them out and say, OK, on this beat, this timing, you want this thing to go off," Wolf explained.
He creates a list of each of the 500 shells in order. In the two days before the show, they're loaded into the tubes and each one is set with a fuse that connects to a rail.
During the show, James is responsible for firing each and every one at the right time to match the music.
"It's the only reason I do it, because I'm the person over there sitting there pressing the buttons. I get a big kick out of it," he said.
The fireworks business is fairly seasonal. The 4th of July is by far the biggest holiday of the year, with preparations starting in February.
For the rest of the year, there isn't much work for a pyrotechnician like Wolf.
"My full time job is I'm a recruiter for Texas Instruments. It takes a lot to put these shows on. I only do it a couple times a year, but that's fine with me," he said, laughing.
Livermore's "Salute to the 4th of July" fireworks show is at Robertson Park. There will be live music, games and face painting for kids, and of course the fireworks show all designed by James. That starts tonight just after sundown, around 9:15 p.m.
"It's picnic blankets, people playing, tossing a ball, and music. It just has that backyard BBQ 4th of July feel but with the entire community together," says Ruby Lopez-Villarreal, the executive director of Livermore Downtown Inc.
"The community loves the fireworks. It's part of our heritage. It's kind of like the rodeo. It's part of the fabric of Livermore," said Franc Moufarrej, who works for the City of Livermore's building department. He says every city department gets involved in the festivities.