Last modified: Saturday, July 4, 2009 2:20 AM EDT Fireworks explode over Hayward Field in Attleboro at the 2008 Fourth of July celebration. (Staff photo by Martin Gavin) City fire chief says fireworks no fun for his force BY GEORGE W. RHODES SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - Everybody loves fireworks on the Fourth of July. Well, almost everybody. Fire Chief Ronald Churchill would enjoy the celebration of our nation's birth a lot more if it didn't involve igniting high explosives. While thousands of residents spend a relaxing day at cookouts or at the beach, then top it off with a trip to the city's annual pyrotechnics display at Hayward Field, it's different for firefighters. "It's a nerve-wracking day," Churchill said as he prepared for the 26th show he's overseen in his 43-year career as a firefighter. "Fireworks are very dangerous and you can only relax when it's all over," he said. Independence Day starts early and goes late for the chief and his firefighters. A fire engine and a crew must be on hand when employees from Atlas Advanced Pyrotechnics of Jaffrey, N.H., unload and start to set up on the morning of July 4. "Our mission there is to protect the workers," Churchill said. "If anything happens, we have to get them out of there." Meanwhile, Churchill, or a deputy, hovers at the site all day, making sure firing tubes called mortars get securely anchored and properly wired. "The biggest part is to make sure they set it up safely and efficiently," Churchill said. And during the show, another fire engine protects a nearby neighborhood from wayward shells and embers and an ambulance is posted near Spatcher Pool to save time on traffic clogged roads if someone is injured or becomes ill. But even before workers start, Churchill has to pay keen attention to weather forecasts because he doesn't want the shells loaded if rain is on the way. Loading the explosives is hazardous, but unloading them should not be attempted, he said. "Once they're loaded, they have to be shot," Churchill said. So if weather forecasts are bad, the show, scheduled for 9:30 p.m., could get postponed early and take place Sunday, July 12, instead. Once they get the word to go, a specially trained crew of about 10 workers from Atlas start to load the shells. The shells range from the size of a golf ball to the size of a basketball, but most are about the size of a baseball or softball, said Atlas General Manager Matthew Shea. As many as 1,000 to 2,000 shells can be used in a show, and it takes six to seven hours to load them, he said. The shells blast out of the mortars after being electronically ignited by a "shooter" who pushes a button on a control panel, said Shea, who acknowledged working with the beautiful but dangerous explosives takes caution. "You have to use a lot of common sense," Shea said. "Obviously, there's no smoking and you have to be careful about how you handle them." While the fire department approaches the day with a heightened sense danger, Atlas approaches it with a heightened sense of profit because Independence Day is the company's busiest season. "We work all year for this," Shea said, noting that Atlas has 174 shows all over New England between June 27 and July 5. Average shows cost from $10,000 to $20,000 and last about 23 minutes, he said. "That's the amount of time that seems to make everybody happy," Shea said. Well, almost everybody.