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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 spent a relaxing day at cookouts or at the beach, then topped it off with a trip to the city's annual pyrotechnics display at Hayward Field, it was 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 were on hand when employees from Atlas Advanced Pyrotechnics of Jaffrey, N.H., unloaded and started to set up on Saturday morning.

"Our mission there is to protect the workers," Churchill said. "If anything happens, we have to get them out of there."

Churchill, or a deputy, hovered 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 protected a nearby neighborhood from wayward shells and embers and an ambulance was posted near Spatcher Pool to save time on traffic-clogged roads if someone were injured or became ill.

But even before workers started, Churchill had to pay keen attention to weather forecasts because he didn't want the shells loaded if rain had come through.

Loading the explosives is hazardous, but unloading them should not be attempted, he said.

Luckily for all involved, there was no rain on Saturday, and the event was able to go off as planned.

Once they got the word to go, a specially trained crew of about 10 workers from Atlas started 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 approached the day with a heightened sense danger, Atlas approached 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.