Visitors from throughout California and across the country pulled into Pismo Beach for the Fourth of July holiday. For some, hearing from friends and family about how Pismo celebrates is enough to make the trip.
Yann Potier said he drove from Sacramento to show his family the fireworks show in Pismo.
“Being from NorCal, there aren’t too many shows,” Potier said. “So, coming down here is a good experience for her to see, so excited for the views, but not too sure what I’m gonna see.”
Others said the event has turned into a tradition with a fireworks show that never disappoints. Annette Mayfield and her family have made the trip from Lompoc for the last three years. Even the fog can’t keep them away.
“They’ve been really good,” Mayfield said. “It’s been nice because the fog burns off. The fog burns off and then we can see them from the house up the street.”
Many people out Friday will stick around to enjoy the fireworks show.
CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Paul Lee took community reporter Makayla Richardson behind-the-scenes to explain what’s involved in making a show of this size happen safely.
“The City hires a vendor that has a very safe record of putting together a professional fire show, and that’s what we’re looking for, a professional show,” Lee said. “Something where there’s a lot of safety precautions put in place and there’s a lot of prep work taken care of. They have a very strict process that they follow to put the firework tubes together they then start to load the mortar rounds and then they have a strict policy they follow for doing the ignition.”
Lee said the pier is watered down before the show as a safety precaution and the fireworks are lit as far away from visitors as possible.
“It’s very important for us and the City to have a very family-oriented event and that family-oriented event needs to have safety as its number one priority,” Lee said.
Mayfield says the fireworks show will be the highlight of their trip to Pismo Beach.
“We’re super excited about the fireworks show,” Mayfield said. “The boys are super pumped.”
