San Diego July 4th computer glitch launches 20 minutes of fireworks simultaneously

[appleb]

SAN DIEGO—The Fourth of July fireworks display above San Diego Bay was over in a flash after a malfunction that the show's producer blamed Thursday on a computer glitch caused the planned 20-minute spectacle to burn up all at once.

The mishap occurred minutes before the scheduled opening of the Big Bay Boom show, the Coast Guard said. Guard spokesman Rich Dann told U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/LpWoU7) he's never seen so many fireworks go off at one time.

Online video shows multiple light bulb-shaped explosions flaring up from barges in the bay, lighting the night sky over downtown San Diego. Rapid snaps and pops punctuate the blazes, which begin to fizzle and sputter in a matter of seconds.

Show producer Garden State Fireworks, the Port of San Diego and the San Diego Fire Department said there were no injuries. Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed the short-lived spectacle.

Garden State Fireworks has apologized, saying they're working to determine what caused "the entire show to be launched in about 15 seconds."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/07/05/san_diego_fireworks_malfunction_in_big_fast_flash/

Even if it was unintentional, I think it would've been awesome to be there and see this. There is a video of the explosion in the article.

[iEyeCaptain]

What's wrong with being done in 15 seconds? :cry:

[sylpherware]

What's wrong with being done in 15 seconds? :cry:

That's what I said!

[silversara]

haha I was there last night....everyone was all worried cause they thought the barges were exploding.

http://i.imgur.com/ncpda.gif (http://www.windycitynovelties.com/2863c/holiday-costumes.html)

[Tornado F2]

If this would have happened earlier, at a time when people weren't expecting the show, I think it could have created a real panic, given the number of military facilities in the area. According to Wiki "San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world". With enough big bangs and explosions it would be like war breaking out, or at least a major munitions dump accident.

I wonder what this incident says about the safety of firework shows? If everything is computerised, is it easy to stop the show in the event of a malfunction? Going off this incident, it looks like they weren't able to stop it before everything had already been set off.

Good to hear that nobody was hurt though. It must have been quite the sight for those present. :D

[_Allan_]

If this would have happened earlier, at a time when people weren't expecting the show, I think it could have created a real panic, given the number of military facilities in the area. According to Wiki "San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world". With enough big bangs and explosions it would be like war breaking out, or at least a major munitions dump accident.

I wonder what this incident says about the safety of firework shows? If everything is computerised, is it easy to stop the show in the event of a malfunction? Going off this incident, it looks like they weren't able to stop it before everything had already been set off.

Good to hear that nobody was hurt though. It must have been quite the sight for those present. :D

Watch Discovery Channels "Pyros" (it follows Mtl based GFA) ... In one episode, there is some problem, and they turn a key, and the system shuts down. They restart it soon after, when the problem is fixed.

[sandikosh]

Blame the computer! Never lame yourself! It is the idiot who programmed the computer that caused it!

[Tornado F2]

Watch Discovery Channels "Pyros" (it follows Mtl based GFA) ... In one episode, there is some problem, and they turn a key, and the system shuts down. They restart it soon after, when the problem is fixed.

Yeah, I figured there should be something like that, but evidently that wasn't enough in San Diego.

I attended a neat after-dark fireworks display the weekend before last at old Fort Erie. They choreographed it to give the impression of a War of 1812 night battle at the fort. From my vantage point I had columns of barely-visible (except during flashes) uniformed men (marching band) right in front of me, with the dark fort behind, its silhouette just about visible thanks to the fireworks smoke behind it, with all sorts of explosions going on above, to the accompaniment of music, including the 1812 Overture. All very impressive and worth the drive down there.

If only the politicians had kept their speeches shorter, so the marching bands weren't left performing in darkness, with floodlights directly behind them shining right into the eyes of most spectators... but that's politicians for you. It was still a good show.

[Tornado F2]

Blame the computer! Never lame yourself! It is the idiot who programmed the computer that caused it!

Unfortunately accidents still happen. I remember reading about the launch of the first European Ariane 5 rocket some years back, which got into difficulty and had to be remote-detonated along with its expensive cargo. The Ariane 5 coding was probably done okay, as was the existing Ariane 4 coding, but somehow a technician loaded the Ariane 4 code onto the brand-new Ariane 5. :facepalm: Now THAT was a major screw-up. It should have been easily preventable too, but it still happened.

[mbg]

What's wrong with being done in 15 seconds? :cry:

+1

People are too busy these days to sit around waiting for the fireworks to go off in order.

Blow the load in one shot FTW.

[flyinggonzo]

haha I was there last night....everyone was all worried cause they thought the barges were exploding.

I'll bet.

I would have loved to see that.