Utah Company Makes Fireworks

Utah Company Makes Fireworks


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Marc Giauque ReportingOdds are, some of the fireworks you'll see on July 4th spent some time in a remote bunker in Utah County. Utah-based Lantis Fireworks does about two-thirds of the displays for Independence Day in Utah; many others are created outside the state.

Near the office outside Fairfield, the Lantis bunker is surrounded by dirt hills on all sides, and it's full of trailer after trailer of fireworks.

Ken Lantis uses a forklift to help load a truck.

"This truck is going to Green River," Lantis says. "One just left for Longmont, Colorado.

Inside the bunker, no cell phones, radios, or barely anything else electronic is allowed.

"It's to keep the explosion in. And so, it rolls over. But when it rolls over, it can still be dangerous," Lantis says.

Lantis has been doing this all his life and still looks forward to this time of year, sort of.

"We have to work 24 hours a day as much as we can. We just go home and we sleep, then we come back and go to work," Lantis says.

At the same time, though, anyone who isn't feeling 100 percent might be asked to stay home for safety reasons. Obviously there's danger in his job, but there's also thrill.

"Some people ride [rollercoasters] and get a kick out of that kind of stuff. That's too scary for me," Lantis says. "I have an exciting job."

Lantis says the job has grown beyond Independence Day and Pioneer Day. He says his business now caters to weddings and even funerals.

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