the event takes nearly a full year of planning by executive producer sandy purdon. he raises the $400,000 to fund the massive display of more than 7,000 fireworks. the night of the event purdon hosts a viewing party for his sponsors. >> i was on my deck at my house entertaining the sponsors. about 15 minutes before the show starts, we start getting ready to watch the show. i do a last-minute check with the coast forward and my patrol commander on water, and then we sit back and wait for the show. >> down on the ground, freelance videographer dan roy finds a perfect spot to watch with friends. only a few hundred feet away from where the fireworks will be launched. >> i had my camera out and i was checking it, making sure it was all ready to go. and then once the things started going off, i just swung around and hit record. >> but it's not the planned start of the show. an unexpected massive blast of fireworks erupts from the barges five minutes before the scheduled start time. >> this was like a nuclear bomb went off. >> you could feel the heat coming from the explos