Citizen photo/Glenn Harbison: Fuses are attached to fireworks one at a time in preparation for Fire in the Sky over Blue Ridge Lake. This is a time consuming process that requires patience and skill 

By: Glenn Harbison / glenn@fanninbasincitizen.com

 A tremendous amount of work goes into the fireworks show that lights up the sky over Blue Ridge Lake every July 4. 

Behind that work are reasons built on the annual celebration of Independence Day itself. (See related story). 

The Lake Blue Ridge Civic Association  hosts Fire in the Sky, the event’s official name. Association board member Rick Glueckert is the fireworks coordinator. 

Glueckert talked Saturday about what it takes to put on the show. 

The first step is taken in February when the permitting process with TVA starts. This is a 26-page report covering the plans and the fireworks fallout zones. Without the permit, there can be no show.

With permit in hand, Glueckert works with Pyrotechnico, the same company that does the Mall show in Washington, D.C. Jimmy Litsey, a professional fireworks shooter, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was at the controls of Fire in the Sky this year for the fifth year in a row. He’s done shows from Texas to Florida including all states in between. There have been sporting events and shows on the Mississippi River.

Saturday Litsey said this may be his last trip to Fannin County. He’s thinking about giving up shooting to spend time with his family.

But he was quick to say, “This is a great place to shoot. Y’all got a lot of support up here.”

Also involved from early on is Will Reed, operations coordinator for the Fannin County Emergency Management Agency (EMA). Like Litsey, this will mark his fifth year working with Fire in the Sky. His job is to make sure the area is safe for Litsey, his crew, and everyone who will be attending.

Saturday, as the afternoon heat had workers sweating and thunder storms threatening, Glueckert, Litsey and Reed talked about everything that comes together for the display that draws hundreds of excited onlookers every Independence Day.

Reed said an important early step is the safety meeting involving Fannin County’s EMA, ambulance service, fire department, public works department, and sheriff’s office, the Blue Ridge Police Department, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and TVA.

Roads have to be closed, traffic directed and viewers kept at a safe distance, all making sure a 1,200-foot fallout zone is observed. The road to the shooting area is smoothed, and the area cleared of brush.

On the afternoon of the show, the fire department will wet the shooting area with 6,000 to 10,000 gallons of water. After the fireworks show is over, the department again makes sure the area is safe.

The afternoon and night of the show itself will require multiple firefighters, law enforcement and public works department personnel overseeing traffic and making sure no one enters the fallout zone. Ambulance service and rescue personnel stand ready nearby in case something goes wrong.

Litsey’s preparation started when he left home on the 12-hour drive to Fannin County. He picked up fireworks in Alabama, and his truck had to be specially marked because of the load’s danger. These, of course, are fireworks the public cannot buy. This also meant taking a route a little longer than the easiest.

Tubes that hold the fireworks were set in place Thursday on the hill above the lake. The tubes were loaded Saturday morning.

Now, it’s just after noon Saturday and Litsey and his crew of four are doing the final wiring for the charges that will propel 820 shots high above Blue Ridge Lake. These shots are broken down into 120 two-and-a-half inch, 160 three-inch, 240 four-inch, 200 five-inch, and 100 six-inch. Each is housed in a tube to accommodate its size, each individually wired and then connected to control boards so they can be sent into the sky at Litsey’s fingertips.

The largest fireworks will travel 550 to 600 feet into the air. 

Saturday night, at 9:30 on the dot, Litsey will shoot the first firework. This it is not nearly as simply as lighting a match and running away.

He’s been provided music by Glueckert to choreograph the show. The music is being live streamed over ETC television and two radio stations. The fireworks and music have to match.

For nearly half an hour, Litsey must make that happen. And he does.

What is now done at many shows using time codes synced by a computer – a single flip of a switch – Litsey does one switch at a time.

“We have a big enough show that we don’t have any dead air,” Glueckert says.

The result is a fireworks show that has been ranked among “3 of the Best Places to See Fireworks” in the South by AAA Living magazine, and one of “20 Best Places to Watch Fourth of July Fireworks” by Popular Mechanics. The 2023 Georgia Official State Travel Guide highlights Fire in the Sky as a “Don’t Miss Event” in Georgia.

Glueckert has been coordinating the event for eight years. In just a few months, he’ll be starting the TVA permitting process again and with it year number nine.