The town of Pahrump’s Independence Day fireworks show took place on Tuesday with thousands making their way to Petrack Park.
“The fireworks show at the park was another example of how Nye County and Pahrump continue to provide one of the best fireworks shows in America!” raved Nye County Commissioner Ron Boskovich, who attended the show Tuesday night.
After the finale, the crowd erupted with applause.
Zambelli Fireworks Pyrotechnician Eddie O’Brien, who designed and led the town’s show, said he was very satisfied — the excitement of those watching made all the hard work worth it, he said.
“It’s been a long week! Our team loaded in all the firing tubes on the 25th of June, with the help of my dad’s crew before they left for two shows in Laughlin, one at the Avi Casino and another for the city of Laughlin on July 3 and 4,” O’Brien said following the show. “Take-down usually takes about two nights, depending on the size of the show. It can total out to around 45-50 man hours per person and that doesn’t include security.
Securing the site also was grueling and took about 110 hours, according to organizers.
The air conditioning unit in the rented truck used by the Goldstein family, including Richard, Kyra, Melissa and Cody, unfortunately not functioning. Despite this sizzling hot challenge, the Goldsteins pushed through and O’Brien said he could not be grateful enough for their efforts.
“It’s been a very stressful week, as always this time of year. All work and preparation to complete and plan this show took many long months, starting basically from the moment that the show from the prior year ends,” O’Brien said. “We had a total of 4,058 low-level device shots, the body of the show included 1,132 shots and the finale, which ran about two minutes, consisted of 1,980 shots. All told, the show was 29 minutes long.”
The town of Pahrump put in $47,000 for the 2023 Independence Day Fireworks Show and the O’Brien family donated an additional $2,700 to make sure the finale was one to remember.
“I want to thank Jimmy Martinez and Courtney Kenney with the town’s buildings and grounds department for allowing us access to the rodeo arena a week early, that saved us! And for the extra day to take down, as well as to Loyce for supplying the sound in the rodeo grounds,” O’Brien said. “And thank you to my crew, Kysean Edwards and Jessica Wolbert, as well as Deanna O’Donnell for the behind the scenes coverage, to Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue, along with the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, for supplying the resources for a successful and safe July 4th shoot. Thank you to the Nye County Commission, too, for going with Zambelli for another year, to ACE Country Radio for a live broadcast of the music that accompanied the show and to the people of Pahrump, Nye County and surrounding areas and the tourists for coming to watch our shows. It was all for you!”
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com