Q: so every year detroit puts on fireworks for the 4th of july, my question is how do they set them off someone told me its all done by remote control(the boats, the fireworks ect)for those who have not been a helicopter first comes out with the canada/U.S.A flag comes out circles around the water then a fleet of boats come out to the center of the river and start shooting off fireworks. can you be more specific
A: Right now, manual firing of fireworks in the USA has almost phased out. In early days of fireworks, fireworks shooters fired shots right near the shells or very close to the shells (often called mortar tubes). Manual aerial fireworks shooting means the pyrotechnician uses a punk fuse to ignite each mortar tube. Regrettably, a lot of pyrotechnic injuries had resulted when fireworks shooters, in curiousity, lean over the mortar tube as they light them, and then the shell shoots up in their faces. A "32 inch" shell will definitely kill them. That is the largest mortal shell that is often used in display finales. That is why companies like Souza Pyrospectaculars (by the Souza family from California) resort to electronic firing of the shells. I can't be sure if Souza Pyrospectaculars fires the Windsor fireworks but a fireworks company similar to this often use electronic firing to create less danger to the pyrotechnicians. Hope all of this helps.