Weather-resistant fireworks set to go

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

Come wind, rain or snow, Las Vegas' annual New Year's Eve fireworks show is "locked and ready to go," Jim Souza, president of Pyro Spectaculars, said.

The weather-resistant fireworks will produce more than 65,000 effects during the three-minute warm-up and eight-minute show billed as "America's Party 2004," organizers promise.

Remnants of snow topped the roof of the Treasure Island on Tuesday morning as Souza and two technicians fine-tuned fireworks for tonight's $500,000 blowout.

The fireworks were covered Tuesday night in anticipation of rain, Souza said, but they can fire in all types of weather. The computerized synchronization of the pyrotechnics can also shut down sections of the fireworks if the wind blows harder than 10 mph, Souza said.

"These are designed to be fired in those conditions, so I don't anticipate any problems," said Souza, whose California-based company will provide fireworks at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Neither do any of the officials involved expect any security issues to arise.

The security for the fireworks show is the same this year as it has been since Sept. 11, 2001, Michelle Smaistrla, the Metro detective overseeing the fireworks, said.

The rooftops of each of the 10 hotels participating in the show are guarded 24 hours a day preceding the event, Smaistrla said, and everyone allowed access to the roofs must provide special credentials that were given out only after a background check.

"Nobody gets up here without us knowing about it," Smaistrla said.

Firefighters with the city and the county have approved all of the fireworks and will continue working closely with Souza's team until after the show is over, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

Souza said his company has made a few late adjustments to the fireworks to ensure safety.

"It's just minor changes in angling," Souza said. "It's nothing that really affects the integrity of the show."

Souza said he'll have about 50 technicians working on the rooftops, 40 maintaining safety perimeters around the buildings and another 10 operating the communication system.

The entire show is computer-operated with special signals being sent out from the operation's headquarters at the Rio hotel-casino. The show's soundtrack will be broadcast on radio stations KLUC 98.5, Mix 94.1 and KMZQ 100.5.

Las Vegas Events was not able to set up broadcasts of the music to those on the Strip, spokeswoman Mary Anne Beadman said, but the noise would prohibit people from hearing the music anyway.

"Honest to God it's so noisy down there," Beadman said, laughing.

One highlight of this year's show is the emphasis on the 10-second countdown, Beadman said. Most people on the Strip are oblivious to the time, so the three-minute warm up will alert them that it is almost midnight and "salutes" will start the countdown, she said.

In past years, there was no warm-up to midnight that included fireworks, Beadman and Souza said.

Other methods of counting down the time to midnight and the fireworks, such as a roll call from each casino, have failed to get people's attention on the Strip, Beadman said.

"We've tried it in the past, and thought it would work, but the countdown is so crazy," Beadman said.

She said the simultaneous firing of "Silver State Salutes" from each hotel should get the audience's attention this year.

Other highlights of this year's fireworks include a salute to Nevada in commemoration of its forthcoming 100-year anniversary, a special effect called "Jack Pot" that will light up the sky with displays resembling gold and silver dollars, and the use of pastel colors.

"I design the show really for the enjoyment of the public," Souza said. "I want to see them engaged in the show."

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects 297,000 people to visit Las Vegas over the New Year's holidays, which is up 3.5 percent compared with last year's attendance, spokesman Rob Powers said.

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