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Glitch Causes Mid-Show Idaho Falls Fireworks Spectacular

951 views · Published 7 July 2015 · 1:40 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: East Idaho News · 2015 · People & Blogs

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IDAHO FALLS - It's the question many folks have been asking since Saturday night: what went wrong during the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration fireworks display?

About 10 minutes into the show, the sky suddenly went dark.  For five minutes and 15 seconds, not one firework erupted.

Then, as patriotic music played, a huge burst of fireworks that looked just like the finale.

"I could tell it was a massive explosion of awesome lights but i really didn’t realize that’s what it was," Debby Smith, an Ammon resident, said.  She and her family were attending the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration for the first time.

"I didn’t even realize they were stopped for as long as it as because we were having such a great time," said Smith.

After the many are calling the mid-show finale, the fireworks kept on coming…and everything ended right on time.

Immediately following the show, Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot went on radio.

"I think they shot off four minutes of shells in about 15 seconds," VanderSloot said.  "We had a finale in the middle of the show.  It was awesome! Then we got back on sync.  I have no idea how he pulled that off.  I especially liked that middle finale.  I was worried for a while."

EastIdahoNews.com checked back in with Melaleuca and Western Fireworks Monday and no one knows exactly what caused the glitch.  

Regardless of what went wrong, many say this year’s celebration will be one to remember.

"It was the best I’ve ever seen," said Smith.  "I’ve been to the St. Louis Arch presentation but this was  better."

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