NAME: David Thompson Jr.
AGE: 38
HOMETOWN: Chattanooga
BIO: Whether they are causing them or preventing them, the Thompson family's business is fire. David Thompson Jr., is the eldest son in a firefighting family that moonlights as pyrotechnicians. In addition to shooting fireworks, Thompson works for the Chattanooga Fire Department and the Signal Mountain Fire Department plus he trains TVA's EMTs, haz-mat team and fire brigade. He is a family man with two sons and two daughters, and is hoping to pass the fire-fighting torch along to the next generation.
Q&A
Hometown?
Chattanooga, Tenn. I graduated from Lakeview High School. My mom and dad live in Rock Spring. I went to Lakeview because of ROTC. I was in the Army for a little while.
Which Branch?
I was in the Army, the Tennessee National Guard.
How long?
8 years.
Did you travel to serve?
No, I was just in between wars. I joined after the first Gulf War and got out in 2000.
Did you join the fire department after you left the Guard?
Actually, no, I joined the fire department in 1996 because you have to be at least 21 to join. My dad had been there since 1974. He was hired to be a fire fighter Jan. 1, 1974 and I was born in May of 1974.
David Thompson, Jr.Whoa, You're as old as his career?
Exactly. My first outing from home was to a fire station. I've lived and breathed it.
Is your dad still serving here?
He retired in 2004, after 30 years, but both my brothers work here. It is the family business.
What do you do at the Fire Department?
I am Captain and Station Coordinator for Station 1, which means I order all the supplies, make sure all the day-today operations are okay and pay the bills; I kind of take care of the house.
Do you hold any positions in the community?
Almost every fire fighter has another job, I have two other jobs. I work for TVA in their fire training center. I help train their fire brigade, hazmat team and EMTs. I also work for Signal Mountain Fire Department.
Do you have a family?
Yes, I am married with four kids. My oldest daughter is 18 and youngest is 14. I have two sons in the middle.
So you must be away from them a lot?
I am, it's unfortunate, but it is the way that our salaries go. Sometimes you have to do something extra.
Now that I know how you became a fire fighter, how did you get involved with the Pyrotechnics?
My mom and dad started shooting fireworks in the early 1980s. My family shot the first fireworks show at the very first Riverbend. I do not do it as much anymore, but everyone in the family still does it.
I am the oldest of four children, both brothers are firefighters and my sister married a firefighter. And we all do fireworks.
You have to be at least 18 to shoot fire works with most companies and the minute we turned 18 we all started helping. There are certain things you can do before you turn 18, but to handle the explosives themselves, you must be 18. We all helped with other aspects before we turned 18.
What is the name of the business?
Well, we work for several different companies; Lab Pyrotechnics is the bigger company and we also work for Melrose Pyrotechnics.
We're all fire fighters, or married to a fire fighter and we all shoot fireworks. It's a family affair. It's a joke that we all play with explosives.
Is there any training involved?
Yes, most definitely. Especially nowadays, there wasn't back in the, but there is now. Especially after 9/11 there has been more intensified training. Depending on what company you are working for, they will have training days where you go and learn how to do everything. They do this because pyrotechnics have gotten injured over the years for not doing as they were supposed to.
For the most part, I would consider it a safe job or thing to do, as long as you follow the proper rules and procedures.
During the heat of the show I'm sure it can get dangerous and crazy.
Yes, anything could happen, anything could go wrong.
Basically what a fire work shell is it's a mortar, or tube, then you slide the explosive or firework shell into that tube and at the bottom there is a slight charge or small ball of black powder and when you light a quick fuse it ignites that bottom charge and shoots that ball or firework out of the mortar, just like a gun would shoot a bullet out of a rifle or a pistol. Then there is a small fuse that burns to a predetermined amount of time and that allows the shell to get to a certain height, and when it gets to that height it will ignite and make whatever color or design has been put in it.
The mishaps that can happen are due to humidity, rain and things of that nature. Those cause the shell not to go up fully and it will ignite a lot sooner than they are supposed to.
My dad has had shells that bounced right in front of him and exploded, or just explode at various heights that they are not supposed to. It is dangerous, but as long as you follow all the rules and do things as you are supposed to it is not as dangerous as it could be.
Have any of your family members been injured on the job?
No, we've had some near misses where shells have exploded at different heights but knock on wood we have had no serious injuries.
Well, you are all fire fighters so you're prepared right?
Yes, and we're all either EMTs or first responders or paramedics and my dad is an EMT and a nurse. We've all got the corner on safety. We are very, very prepared.
What are the shows like for you personally?
Very, very dirty. The set up is not too bad because you set the mortars up in whatever configuration you want to use. We set the main show up, pre-show and show finale. There are all kinds of safety's we have built in. I think it is fun. There are hours of set up for 15 minutes of fun and enjoyment.
Do you get to watch the show?
No you are typically on task. One person shooting the show, one person keeping time to get it close the customer's desired time. We do not want any dead time in our shows; we want to keep it interesting from start to finish.
And unfortunately all the shows are driven by money. We do not know the cost of the shows and the people that shoot the shows don't make a lot of money doing it. It is enough to pay for your fuel there and typically for some food, but most of the people that do it, like myself and my family, we're not doing it for the monetary gain, we just like doing it. It's for the fun.
Are you mostly busy in the summer?
Yes, my sister and brother-in-law shot one or two shows during the Memorial Day weekend. My family has shot the Lafayette Golf Course show on July 4 for the past seven or eight years. My parents shot the first Riverbend show and maybe one or two after that. My brother-in-law shoots a show in Memphis every July 4.
What are the biggest shows you have been apart of?
My parents went one June/July shooting shows up the East Coast many, many years ago. My mother and a friend of hers shot fireworks in Canada once.
The biggest show that I have shot was in Atlanta at the Atlanta National Golf. It was a very, very large show. They were a lot of people working it. The shells are typically broken up by size. The smallest shell we shoot is a three inch, and up to a 12, which is a 12 inch ball in diameter. In the Atlanta show we shot 10 or 12 12 inch balls. It was interesting.
What are your favorite parts of the show? You say you don't do it for the money, why do you do it?
It is just something that I have grown up around. That's definitely the biggest part of it. I don't know what got my parents started, but we have always been around it. Just like fire fighting as well, I have been around it for so long.
It is a lot of hard work, setting up and making sure that everything is right. A few minutes of running yourself to death, and then the enjoyment of when everything goes right and you can hear the crowd cheering.
Fire is the family affair?
Exactly.
If you were not doing this, fire fighting or fireworks, what would you want to be doing?
I would probably be in the medical field in some way. I still have to go back and finish nursing school, but I would probably go into cardiology, but I don't think I could have done anything but fire fighting.
Do you think your children will go into fire fighting?
I hope that, due to the money, they would pick something where they could make more money. It is just the way society is, you have to make money to pay bills, but I could see my sons thinking about it. I could see them enjoying the job.
It is a very rewarding job being a fire fighter. We see people at their worst possible moments in house fires, to their best moments when we deliver babies. I have delivered two babies, and my dad delivered a baby in a phone booth in East Lake.
We are able to help people when they are down on their luck and lost everything.
It is very rewarding when you are able to pull an injured victim out of a burning building or destroyed car, or you are able to go into their home and save them from a medical emergency. That's why most people do it. Us fire fighters may joke, but we do the job because we like to help people. I think we have some of the best fire fighters in the country.
You do this job for all the reasons you just said, then why do you do the fireworks?
It is rewarding and it is for entertainment.
There are not that many people that can say, 'What did you do this weekend,' 'well I went and watched a fire work show.'
'Well I was the one that caused that.'
The family part, I think is the most story-worthy. There is something in all of your blood that points you to your profession.
It is something we have always done, and we will continue to do it.
Anything you want to say? Any story or big moment?
Fireworks wise, I have been all over to shoot. I have traveled all over Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.
Did you have fireworks at your wedding?
No we didn't, but we did consider it. We had a small wedding at our parents' home. It would have been cool but we did not. I have shot fireworks at weddings before.
Me and my siblings all went to Rock Spring Elementary and my children went there and we shot a fireworks show for them once. We try to do what we can to help.
Should I say that your hometown is Chattanooga?
Yes because it is what I usually tell people. I should say that the fire department is my hometown because I have lived her one-third of my life.
You seem to be interested in high energy activities.
Yes, most firemen are. The atypical personality of always wanting to do something. Knock on wood we have not had any calls today and they are all ready to do something.
I would much rather be going and helping someone and doing something than sitting around. I am always on the move.
Would you say you are best under pressure?
Yes, I am able to think on my feet. Everything involved in this job is dynamic, it is always changing. And we have to be think two or three or four steps ahead. Always have other plans in place.
For lack of better words, you always have to have a plan. What is a plan? A plan of attack and a plan of what you are going to do.
This job has taught me to roll with the good and roll with the bad, the same way. The best thing that could happen is that we do not get any calls that means there is no emergency, no one's house is burned, no car wrecks or any other catastrophic event. But there is always some type of emergency that is going to occur, there is no waving of the wand to stop it, but when it happens, we are prepared.