Rapid City, SD – Mike Sellner used to be the guy who ordered way too many fireworks for himself. The kind of hobby that fills a U-Haul. One afternoon he was at the warehouse loading up his stash when the local professional shooter spotted him and figured he was there for the same reason.

“No, this is just mine,” Sellner told him.

The guy said he should come shoot a real show sometime. That conversation was eighteen years ago.

These days Sellner works as a lead pyrotechnician for J&M Displays, and this Fourth of July he’s running the big show here in Rapid City. If you’ve been to one of these before, you know the feeling in your chest when the sky lights up. He’s the reason for it.

From an expensive hobby to a calling

Ask him how he ended up here and he’ll grin about the math of it all.

“I used to spend a lot of money to blow things up, and now people pay me to do the same,” he said. “I get the same value. I just don’t have to pay for it.”

J&M was born out of the same itch. Two brothers, James and Michael Oetken, loved fireworks so much they were going broke buying them. So back in 1980 they started shooting for other people to fund the habit. The company now runs one of the biggest fireworks operations in the country, with shows that have gone off everywhere from China to the Bahamas.

Sellner’s resume has the same sprawl to it. Backyard weddings, city park weddings, Monday Night Football, NCAA events, the College World Series. “You name it, I’ve shot it,” he said.

What 1,400 shells set to music actually takes

The show you watch in fifteen minutes takes months to build.

The work starts in January. Sellner and his team simulate the entire thing on a computer first, lining up every shell to the right beat of the music. This year the soundtrack will air on 93.9 The Mix, same as the last few years. Then they test it. A lot.

“I bet I’ve tested your show already six times here, and we’re not even on location,” he said. He’ll run it once or twice more once he gets to Rapid City.

He remembers the older way of doing it. “I’ve even hand fired shows,” he said, talking about standing right next to a mortar with a port fire in his hand and lighting it off by feel. Now he uses the Cobra firing system, which he calls the most advanced one anybody uses anywhere in the world.

This year’s load comes in around 1,500 pounds. More than 1,400 shells. Some of them are true six-inch shells, and Sellner wants you to know what that means.

“If you look at your consumer grade fireworks, I know those things may say three inch or four inch. They’re not. They’re smaller than that,” he said. “These are true six inch shells. They’re heavy, they’re large. And they take a lot of oomph to get into the air. And we feel every single one of them.”

America’s 250th birthday raises the stakes

The country’s 250th lands differently for a guy who served in the Air Force.

“If you were to cut my arm, I’d bleed blue,” he said. His dad was Air Force too. For him the patriotism runs all the way down.

A milestone like this shapes everything, right down to which shells made the cut. It sharpens the safety side too.

“It kind of doubles and triples our duty for safety and making sure things go right,” he said. “It’s really cool to do a really cool show, but it kind of tarnishes if there’s some sort of accident.”

He figures the crowd could be one of the biggest Rapid City has ever seen, given everything happening around the celebration.

Why he closes his eyes when the finale hits

Sellner and his crew stand way nearer to the mortars than any spectator. You watch the fire spew out as the shells launch. You feel every punch.

Eighteen years in, the feeling holds. “I still have the same feeling, like I’m still standing there. I’m still feeling every single punch.”

So what’s running through his head when that last shell goes up and the finale roars?

For a few seconds, the professional in him scans the field, checking for anything that needs handling. Then comes the part he saves for himself.

“Anyone with a telephoto lens will be able to go in. You’ll be able to see me,” he said. “I usually close my eyes and just listen. Because that’s why we do it. It’s the applause. It’s the kids you can hear that are just happy. The joy and jubilation. And we get to share in America’s birthday. So what can be better?”