They're not your backyard bottle rockets.
"We've had fires on the trailer, explosions on the trailer," said pyro technician Rex McDaniel in charge of this years Pops on the River 4th of July fireworks display.
Due to the extreme dry conditions, Little Rock firefighters are responding to twice as many cathey're usual.
"They had a dumpster fire, a couple structure fires last night, several grass fires," said Captain Jason Weaver with the Little Rock Fire Department.
That's why Pops on the River hires a a professional.
"We have all this water and a concrete bridge - there's no grass or trees in the immediate area so I feel quite safe," said McDaniel.
100 hours of work, anxious emergency crews, firefighters on standby - all for one 20 minute show.
Even the pyro technicians themselves know better than to play with fire in this heat.
McDaniel uses this switch board to carefully calculate the perfect combination, keeping his trailers of explosives at a distance.
"When it's all over and the crowd is going wild, that's it for me," said McDaniel.
