A Wider Net

I just read the PLSN e-newsletter about this pyro accident at a WWE event on March 30, 2008. From what I have read there and here and a few other places, there were several pyro devices attached to guide wires above the stadium. At least one wire appears to have broken, possibly due to other detonations, dropping it’s pyro load on the crowd. The reports differ, but around 45 people were injured from burns as well as welts (presumably from the falling cable assembly).

The pyro company was reported to be Zenith Pyrotechnology of NY. I have worked with these guys several times in the past and found them to be very good, although I seem to recall they are not strangers to accidents. Pyro is a very dangerous business.

This may go down as a freak accident. Event marketers know that bad stuff happens even to good vendors. Make sure they follow every federal, state, local, and venue requirement, and that they have the appropriate safety measures in place. Double-check your insurance. Pyro can be a safe and cost-effective wow for your event, so I hate to see accidents like this curtail its use.

There’s video, but I didn’t want to embed it. It is not pleasant.