The Daily Dispatch

When the idea of setting off more than a quarter of a million firecrackers at one time crossed Matt Brodina's mind, he was pretty much at the mercy of his passion for fireworks at that point.

For the past few years Brodina and his wife wife Nancy have hosted a Fourth of July get together of friends and neighbors in Wyndmere, where they live, which culminates in a large fireworks display.

"I just wondered what it would be like to set off that many firecrackers at once," Brodina said.

He decided to find out.

With the help of his friend Vance Wiertzema of Breckenridge, Brodina began laying out the 16 cases of firecrackers he purchased. The two men used a large pipe and unraveled the gigantic thread of firecrackers like thread from a large spool.

Each case held 16,000 firecrackers.

With some other firecrackers that were added, the total, Wiertzma said, was 263,000.

With people witnessing the event from the side of the streets, as well as many local children who came down on their bikes to see the popular local event, everyone found out what it would be like when Brodina lit the fuse.

Beginning with a few cracks and pops, the explosions seemed par for the course for a July afternoon in North Dakota.

That was about to change.

The snapping and popping suddenly turned into a deafening roar that was so loud that two people standing beside each other attempting to talk could only see each other's lips moving.

Some felt their equilibrium start to go and began to feel shaky.

Kids with wide eyes and adults with blank expressions stood with their fingers in their ears.

It continued for approximately seven minutes.

The mood was ominous when the deafening thunder suddenly stopped.

Everyone was silent.

Then there was an applause.

Brodina spoke of the ominous feeling that took over when the thousands of explosions had begun.

"I think the mind loses its ability to make sense of what its taking in," he said. "I had to remind myself that it was under control and would end at the end of the firecrackers," he said, noting that a strange sense of helplessness accompanies such a thing.

The math indicates that the ear drum was receiving approximately 626 simultaneous explosions every second - perpetually.

As the kids drove away on their bicycles they yelled out "thank you Matt" to Brodina.

"It was this or a plasma TV," Brodina said, noting that he had to make a choice between buying a new TV or paying for the display.

"I wouldn't be able to share the TV with others," he said.

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