Video interview: Guys from Pyrotecnico talk about their Texas fireworks trade

"Our business is exploding," says Rocco Vitale III.

by John P. Meyer

Photo by John P. Meyer

Dan Farnsworth and Rocco Vitale III

OK, I've gotta admit that when I was invited to meet with Rocco Vitale III, Pyrotecnico's regional GM, at their remote North Texas facility, I was hoping to get a behind-the-scenes look at the construction of some of those fabulous fireworks shells that make big booms and pretty colors in the night sky. I envisioned taking off my shoes and touching a static-discharge electrode before entering the facility, to avoid one of those nasty neighborhood-leveling fireworks factory explosions.

But such drama was not in the cards for me, because the anonymous looking metal warehouse structure that constitutes the fireworks company's "Dallas" distribution center (it's actually 50 miles south on I-35E) isn't about making the fireworks: It's simply a staging area where product is loaded into trucks for delivery to shows that Pyrotecnico puts on for its clients. Inside the warehouse all I saw was a bunch of mortar racks, some plastic sheeting, and stack after stack of palettes.

As I learned from facility manager Dan Farnsworth, Pyrotecnico (which has been around as a family-owned-and-run company since 1889) no longer gets their hands dirty with shell construction: They actually purchase most of their product from overseas -- primarily China, with some products sourced from Spain and Italy.

Their actual fireworks storage facility -- known ominously as a magazine -- lies 12 miles farther into the boonies in an unspecified direction (they don't want people to know exactly where). The ATF governs the storage of explosives; it's their regulations which dictate how far away the facility needs to be from population centers.

I first heard of Pyrotecnico when I discovered that they were the outfit behind the show that highlighted (literally!) the Sept. 25 Bridging the Trinity event, put on by The Trinity Trust. I found it to be one of the most jaw-dropping fireworks displays I'd ever seen.

Pyrotecnico is headquartered in New Castle, Penn. (near Pittsburgh). The company sets up -- and sets off -- 700 shows in one week around the 4th of July, which is of course their peak season, kind of like Christmas for retailers, only more condensed. When they're not putting on major civic displays, they're generating their bread and butter through the production of post-game fireworks shows for the 60 or 70 minor league baseball teams who constitute their client base.

In our neck of the woods, they put on shows for the Frisco RoughRiders and the Grand Prairie AirHogs; other clients include Lone Star Park, the City of Lake Dallas, and the City of Allen, where they put on a 20-minute extravaganza for this summer's Allen USA show. If you watch the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football this coming Nov. 23, you'll witness one of Pyrotecnico's non-explosive display effects in the form of a pair of propane burners that spew flame around the players as they enter the field. (Oh, and they'll also be doing a "rimfire" off the stadium roof before the kickoff, to pump up the fans.)

Here are things I learned from talking to Rocco and Dan: