San Diego residents and visitors who had hoped to take in a good firework show were shortchanged this holiday. Instead of enjoying a planned 15-minute firework show, the crowd was treated to a 30-second show of giant explosions.
The firework show suffered a massive malfunction and instead of the fireworks going off in a planned sequence, all exploded within a few seconds. According to the Associated Press, the show-gone-bad was blamed on a “technical glitch” Thursday and the computer system caused thousands of fireworks to go off at the same time.
Luckily, there were no reported injuries, just an angry and confused crowd who had come to see an impressive show put on by the famous New Jersey-based Garden State Fireworks. The crowd who almost all had cameras up in the air in hopes of filming and later posting the spectacular show to their social media sites, instead captured the major firework fluke. Hours later, the spectators still posted away and plenty of videos of the incident have since gone viral and quickly become a hit online.
One video shows three massive explosions against the dark sky. “The Big Bay Boom Firework Show in San Diego for 2012 was a “Big Bay Bust”. There was a technical problem and ALL of the fireworks went off within 30 seconds,” reads the caption. “The original Big Bay Boom was set to last about 15 minutes.”
While videos of the event have become viral hits, the show was not a hit for spectators and sponsors alike. The show took in about $380,000 from sponsors, according to AP, and the port district gave another $50,000 in services like traffic control and cleanup. Not to mention the fireworks reportedly cost over $100,000, among other expenses.
Check it out.