Producers, Coast Guard Make Final Preparations For New Year's Eve Fireworks Shows
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Safety officials got together today to compare notes for Monday's two fireworks shows over the Delaware River.
The fireworks barge will be positioned just north of the Battleship New Jersey for both the 6pm and 12 midnight fireworks displays.
US Coast Guard lieutenant commander Rick Detar says commercial and pleasure boat traffic will be restricted in the safety zone, between the Navy Yard and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
"That safety zone is going to be enforced from 5:30 to 7:00, and then from 11:30 to one o'clock in the morning," he says.
Fireworks show producer Ken Furstoss, of the company Pyrotecnico, says crews are beginning the three-day job of loading shells for the two shows -- which, he says, should go off regardless of rain or snow.
"With the computerized show, everything's totally covered," Furstoss tells KYW Newsradio. "You'd think you were in a baker's oven out there with all the aluminum foil. But every individual cylinder is foiled so it doesn't get exposed to the elements until it's actually launched."
And, just a reminder: bring a portable radio, because KYW Newsradio 1060 will air the synchronized musical soundtrack for the fireworks.
