No Make-Up Show After Big Bay Boom, Fireworks Company Says

There won't be a make-up show in place of a fireworks mishap that disappointed thousands of people in the San Diego Bay on the Fourth of July, according to the company responsible for the glitch.

Tens of thousands of fireworks went off at the same time during the Big Bay Boom as a result of a computer glitch, according to the New Jersey-based company contracted by the Big Bay Boom committee to operate the fireworks. Watch raw video

Garden State Fireworks offered to pay for the fireworks for another show, but a spokesperson with the company said the organizers of the show have declined the offer.

"There's a lot more to a fireworks show than the fireworks themselves," said August Santore Jr. of Garden State Fireworks. "There’s a ton of organization and permitting and lead time that goes into organization of these big events."

In an interview with NBC 7 San Diego, Executive Producer of the show Sandy Purdon said they will spread out the money pledged by Garden State Fireworks over the next two or three years.

"After discussions with the key sponsors of the event, it’s been determined that it would better to devote the $125,000 equivalent in pyrotechnics to next year or over the next couple of years to enhance the annual show," Purdon said.

About five minutes before the show was supposed to start on the Fourth of July, a sudden burst of fireworks shot into the air in the bay.

Tens of thousands of fireworks were set off at the same time. The explosions lasted a few seconds. About 20 minutes later, people waiting for the display were told to return home. The fireworks show was canceled, a radio announcement said.

Port District authorities said a computer glitch resulted in all the fireworks going off within 15 seconds just minutes before the show was scheduled to begin.

The money pledged for the fireworks show is only about a third of the cost of the total event. The rest is used for permitting, staff, security, transportation and general sponsorship expenses, among other things, Purdon said. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

"If we try to do a show between now and then we would still have to raise an additional $200,000 to $250,000 to be able to provide an equivalent show to the one we had planned to have last year," Purdon said. "It’s not rocket science, it’s just economics."