By Dana Wilson
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
Copyright 2006 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved
DELAWARE, Ohio — When the crew behind this city’s fireworks display returns at dawn today to clean up the launch site, Tom Macklin will be there.
The fire chief takes his role seriously, searching the ground for unfired shells before they can land in the wrong hands.
Macklin, 58, couldn’t handle the explosives during the show because he has been overseeing event safety in recent years. But after he retires from the fire department in August, he plans to renew his license as a certified pyrotechnician, or “pyromaniac,” as he jokingly refers to the job.
He and firefighter Charlie Cooperider first became licensed exhibitors in the early 1990s, after a company canceled plans for the annual show and left the city in the lurch.
Macklin was hooked.
“We started back in the days when you could actually hand-light and reload mortars,” Macklin said. Now, most shells in Delaware’s show are fired electronically.
Macklin’s expertise inspired city officials to name last night’s fireworks show in his honor: The mayor surprised him with a proclamation during the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra concert on the lawn of Ohio Wesleyan University.
The chief has a knack for timing aerial fireworks to sound like cannons firing during the symphony’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, said Lee Yoakum, city spokesman.
Leading up to last night, Macklin had little time to reminisce about his last show as chief. “It takes a lot of hard sweat and labor,” he said.
He and Cooperider started months ago by ordering 2,600 shells — costing roughly $22,000 — from Hamburg Fireworks of Lancaster. With help from other volunteers, they spent hours Sunday and Monday assembling wooden mortar racks and hauling them to the old landfill near the Public Works Department on Cherry Street. Yesterday, they loaded shells, connected fuses and hoped for the storm clouds to pass.
Macklin worked on final preparations in drizzling rain early yesterday morning before making an appearance in the holiday parade through town.
“He’s hands-on,” said Frank Darst, one of the volunteer organizers. “He’s probably one of the most knowledgeable fire chiefs. Safety is his middle name.”
Macklin said he hopes to return next year to continue the tradition.
It’s only fitting for him to leave with a bang, said Yoakum.
“There are 30 years of professional experience and a lifetime of memories that he brings,” he said.