These “all the fireworks accidentally going off at once” videos are never as cool as you think they should be. Here’s San Diego’s “Big Bay Boom” (scheduled to last 15 minutes) going off in 30 seconds.
A classic for the ages on our nation’s birthday
“At the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar this week, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang put on his largest ‘explosion event’ of the last three years, utilizing microchip-controlled explosives to form incredible designs and patterns. The video we’ve embedded of the event is an impressive testament to how a volatile black powder explosion can be controlled and shaped by computer.
Each set of explosions was calculated to paint a different picture. One series of explosions created black smoke clouds that looked like ‘drops of ink splattered across the sky.’ In another, 8,300 shells embedded with computer microchips exploded in a pyramid shape over the desert.”
“The fireworks accident in Seest happened on 3 November 2004, when the N. P. Johnsens Fyrværkerifabrik fireworks factory exploded in Seest, a suburb of Kolding, Denmark. One firefighter died; seven from the rescue team as well as 17 locals were injured. In addition 34 rescuers, 8 police officers and 27 from the Danish Emergency Management Agency were treated for smoke inhalation. The evacuation of 2,000 people from the immediate surrounding area saved many lives. Eight fire and rescue vehicles were also destroyed.
The surrounding area was badly hit by the explosion with 355 houses reported damaged, and 176 of them rendered uninhabitable. In total 2,107 buildings were damaged by the explosion, with the cost of the damage estimated at € 100 million.
N. P. Johnsens fyrværkerifabrik was the main importer of fireworks in Denmark at the time, accounting for 25% of the total trade. At the time of the accident the company was storing 284 net tons (netto explosive mass) of fireworks in its warehouse, the maximum it was allowed to store was 300 ton.”
