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Washington Evening Journal
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Getting ready to have a blast
Hours of wiring goes into 30-minute fireworks show
Pyrotechnicians started setting up for Washington's fireworks show Sunday, hours before the start of the show at dusk.
On a freshly mowed strip of grass along the fairground's south edge, Stuart Mason, Matt McChesney and Jessica McChesney wired countless connections from launch tubes and fuses to a control panel for the Sunday night show.
The display started around 9:30 p.m. with hundreds of onlookers scattered across bleachers, parking lots, and grassy areas nearby, many lighting their own sparklers and Roman candles as the daylight faded.
The crew fired several hundred shells for roughly 30 minutes before a dazzling grand finale.
Stuart Mason sets up the control panel for Washington's July 4 fireworks display. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
Pyrotechnicians Matt McChesney (left) and Stuart Mason untangle electrical cords to set up Washington's July Fourth fireworks show. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
Pyrotechnician Jessica McChesney wires fireworks launch tubes to the control panel before the July Fourth show in Washington. (Kalen McCain/The Union)
