CINCINNATI — When you think about the Fourth of July, you immediately think about fireworks. Rozzi Fireworks pyrotechnicians play a big role in celebrating America’s birthday with a bang. 

Rozzi Fireworks pyrotechnician Terry Lewis is pulling up a truck full of supplies at Coney Island ahead of Balloon Glow, one of the signature fireworks nights at the water park in Cincinnati. 

Lewis has been building shows since the mid-80s. 

“Right now it’s fun. It has been since I started,” Lewis said. 

Rozzi's crew works to unload materials for the Balloon Glow show at Coney Island (Tino Bovenzi, Spectrum News 1).

Lewis is a retired firefighter who has a passion for fireworks. He is motivated by making people happy.

“That’s why you do it,” Lewis said. “These kids, they have a ball coming out watching this. And a lot of the adults do too.” 

A crew of six people unload the truck and set up the mortar tubes and racks, following a design layout along the way. Then they work to clear out whatever debris may be inside from previous shows, before eventually loading the tubes with the fireworks. 

It takes about two days’ worth of work to pull off a 20 minute show. So at the end of the spectacular, these pyrotechnicians just want to hear one thing— applause.

Crews work through extreme heat to make sure each fireworks show goes off without a hitch (Tino Bovenzi, Spectrum News 1).

“Hearing that just kind of let you know that, yeah, they appreciate all the hard work,” Lewis said. “They may not realize all the hard work and all that goes into it, but they did appreciate the show. They did appreciate everything that went on. And, that works out well.” 

The Balloon Glow fireworks show will take place this Sunday at 10:15 PM at Coney Island. To find more details, visit the Coney Island website.