Fireworks Display Is A Family Affair

Heavy machinery towing barrels of bombs can only mean one thing. The Barnett family is preparing for another Fourth of July.

"10-inch shell goes about 1,000 feet in the air," said Rick Barnett. Barnett is coordinating the Tulsa FreedomFest fireworks.

Hold the burgers, hot dogs and apple pie. This isn't your family's backyard barbecue and sparkler spectacle. The Barnett's have been celebrating America's Independence by lighting up the Tulsa sky for 17 years.

"We get a thrill out of doing this. The Fourth of July is a family holiday," said Barnett. "We don't just spend the day of the fourth together. We spend the week before."

Yes, it takes a week's worth of work to carefully craft Tulsa's biggest firework display.

"This is not necessarily a family reunion, but we get to spend a week out here together and everybody takes vacation from their regular jobs," said Barnett.

Fireworks and family seem to go together, especially when you consider you're wiring explosives. To know you'll stay safe, you need to believe in your team.

"We trust each other. We've been doing this long enough that everybody knows what they're doing and we don't take short cuts," said Barnett.

After laboring long hours, the Barnett's say the payoff comes from the patrons.

"The big screaming and hollering at the end of the show is a big rush for us; all the noise out on the bridge when we're shooting the show, the music, the shells going off," said Barnett. "Then, that last shell pops and it gets quiet and you hear everybody cheering up and down the river. It's just wonderful."

You can see the Tulsa FreedomFest fireworks display July 4th starting at 9:30 p.m. Click here to see other 4th of July Celebrations.

By Kyle Dierking, Video Journalist.