JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A classic way to count down the end of the year is with some fireworks. Action News Jax reporter Meghan Moriarty got a chance to speak with the Duval County Fire Marshal about the preparations that go into the City of Jacksonville’s show near the Southbank.
A barge packed with fireworks makes its way down the St. Johns River and settles right between the Acosta and Main Street bridges.
“It’ll go off, probably, right at midnight,” Chief Kevin Jones said. “I’m expecting a to have a lot of fireworks: six-inch shells, five-inch shells, a couple of nine-inch shells, and different displays that way.”
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Jones is the Fire Marshal for Duval County. He has spent the last 20 New Year’s Eves inspecting fireworks for the city’s big display.
“[We] have a staff meeting that occurs at what we call Marine One,” Jones said. “Dockmaster will be there. There will be JSO. There will be our own JFRD personnel. We’ll have a game plan, a start time, end time, and then at that time we pretty much break.”
The display takes up a lot of space, for a big reason. For every inch of shells, they’ll need 70 feet of clearance.
“We need 210 feet radius of clearance,” Jones said. He adds that there will be inspectors at the bridges and on the barge. There will also be fire extinguishers nearby.
The display will last 15 minutes.