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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Oops! San Diego Fourth of July fireworks display accidentally launches all at once
2012-07-05
Ron Burgundy would've had a field day with this story.
I sense a coverup already. Iran already has the bomb, gave one to Al Qaeda, and they tested it over San Diego.
A Fourth of July fireworks show in San Diego lasted just 15 seconds on Wednesday, when what organizers called "a technical glitch" caused all of the fireworks to go off at the same time.

According to Garden State Fireworks, a signal that was sent to the barges to "set the timing" of the fireworks caused "the entire show to be launched in about 15 seconds."

The "Big Bay Boom," as it was billed, quickly became a Big Bay Bust.

"Anyone know if that was on purpose?" Josh Damigo wrote on Twitter. "It sure seems like something went wrong!"

"Was that it?" Jennifer Boyd tweeted.

Adding to the confusion, music that was supposed to be synchronized with the display played on in the darkness.

"There was "Proud to be an American," "Born in the USA," some Taylor Swift songs and lots of music with "America" in them," Teagan Hamblin told CNN.

"We sincerely apologize for the technical glitch that affected the #BigBayBoom," the Port of San Diego told to its Twitter followers. "Event producers are currently investigating the cause."

The premature explosion occurred shortly before 9 p.m., according to NBC San Diego. Twenty minutes later, the thousands of people gathered in Glorietta Bay were told via a radio broadcast that the show had been canceled.

"This is very uncommon," August Santore, a spokesman for Garden State Fireworks, told CNN. "There was nothing in the pyrotechnics that went wrong—it was the electronics."
Posted by:gorb

#24  At least with pyrotechnics, no one has to sleep on the wet spot.
Posted by: SteveS   2012-07-05 23:26  

#23  "Was it good for you, Dear?"
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2012-07-05 23:09  

#22  I worked on a rig one time where the mud pumps were so big you could ride the pony rods to work.
Posted by: junkiron   2012-07-05 22:52  

#21  True true, but then they also offered a schedule which is something the EVIL Empire doesn't. It's working the well and so you're gone from a month or two at a time. It sucks.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division   2012-07-05 22:21  

#20  It's probably permanent. The Brick has been lured to Houston by a dastardly female who is bent upon entrapment.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats   2012-07-05 21:35  

#19  "Still, it got me down here to Houston."

Was down there last winter on business.

Bet the weather's different now. ;-p

Is this a permanent move, or just temporary?
Posted by: Barbara   2012-07-05 20:41  

#18  So, Silentbrick, you've moved from being a minion of the evil Cheney empire to working for the French? My, how the mighty have fallen.
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-07-05 20:19  

#17  But those frac boats - THEY'VE got some pumps!
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-07-05 20:14  

#16  Silentbrick
In my experience, there's not a rig on the planet that doesn't need new frigging mud pumps.
That's my experience too. New ones, bigger ones, or both.
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-07-05 20:08  

#15  Can't even light a firecracker..
Posted by: crazyhorse   2012-07-05 19:59  

#14  Heard the fireworks all went off 5 minutes before the show was to start. and lasted only 15 seconds. AKA "Premature Explosions".
Posted by: Lumpy Ebbinetle5253   2012-07-05 19:11  

#13  Yes, although their current training cycle leaves a bit to be desired.

Still, it got me down here to Houston.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division   2012-07-05 18:05  

#12  Schlumberger, that's a good gig. Pros.
Posted by: newc   2012-07-05 17:20  

#11  Whhahaha....time to head to the dog house Brick.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-07-05 17:16  

#10  "This is very uncommon,"

Not what she says.
Always promising a big show.
They get their fireworks off in one quick bang.
Totally unsatisfying for everyone else.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2012-07-05 16:56  

#9  In my experience, there's not a rig on the planet that doesn't need new frigging mud pumps.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division   2012-07-05 16:52  

#8  Mud pumps, we needs'em.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-07-05 16:37  

#7  Any implication that Halliburton Employees like fire or find it amusing to make things blow up is completely true. utterly false.

The fact that I now work for Schlumberger has no bearing on this either:p
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division   2012-07-05 15:48  

#6  A friend of mine that I worked with in the early 1970s was on Guadalcanal when the Japanese guns hit an oxygen and acetylene cylinder dump of ours. He said that it was quite a show. Only problem was that the cylinders were launching themselves many hundreds of yards all around, which made watching quite dangerous.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2012-07-05 15:33  

#5  We had something like that happen at Wiesbaden AB one 4th of July. One of the fireworks started a grass fire that quickly set off the rest of the fireworks. It was about 2/3 of the way through the show, so it wasn't a complete disaster, but it was unusual.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2012-07-05 15:22  

#4  As a public services the Fireworks Program was compressed into less than a 1 minute time frame. This allowed the spectators time to take care of more important things like Facebook, Twitter, Tweet, Chirp, etc.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC   2012-07-05 15:04  

#3  And the lowest bidder, no doubt.

For the record, I was in no way implying, hinting, or suggesting a conspiracy, plot, or scheme involving Frank and/or the many, often secretive, divisions of Haliburton. Sometimes an explosion is just an explosion. (nudge, nudge. wink,wink)
Posted by: SteveS   2012-07-05 14:41  

#2  yeah. That's what you get when you hire a NJ firm...
Posted by: Frank G   2012-07-05 14:29  

#1  "There was nothing in the pyrotechnics that went wrong--it was the electronics."

Reassuring to some, I suppose, but the end result is the same.

Hey, doesn't a certain Frank G live in San Diego?
Posted by: SteveS   2012-07-05 14:21  

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