David Whysall

Originally from the United Kingdom, David Whysall has been playing with fireworks for well over three decades. He is a licensed pyrotechnist who operates his own display company as well as overseeing production and design for Specialized Pyrotechnics in Kenilworth, Ontario.

How did you become interested in fireworks ?

I guess I just stumbled into it. I was good at chemistry in High School and decided to follow that path after school. I was studying part-time while working for a chemical manufacturer. I was only there for a short time, when I became ill due to benzene poisoning. I decided to look for another job when the "fireworks factory" in a nearby village advertised for an Analytical Chemist. The rest, as they say, is history. That was in 1964, so by my reckoning that's almost 36 years.

What made you decide to try your hand at manufacturing pyrotechnic devices ?

At Hakey & Weller, we manufacured military training items, smokes, noise makers, and fireworks. I was the government appointed chemist on site responsible for ensuring all products met the various specifications and standards. I was promoted several times, eventually ending up as Production Manager. Other positions included Research Chemist (very interesting - basic research for the UK government space program involving pyrotechnic display units and the effects of mixing techniques, granulation techniques, particle size, burning at high temperatures, burning at low temperatures, vacuum, pressure, dwell time, effect of spin, etc. - all good stuff !) I found the combination of my analytical training with the basic knowledge obtained from the research and development, as well as the knowledge of chemistry, helped considerably. When I came to Canada in 1982, I worked for Hand's Fireworks. I helped set up the Prescott plant while overseeing the smoke grenade contracts at Papineauville. Developed a few new firework items/colours, but most of my time at Hand's was taken up by the government contracts. I renewed acquaintances with some old friends of mine at Astra in the UK who asked me to build a factory in Canada. I designed and built the Kenilworth factory in 1986-87 and was president of Astra Canada until it moved to it's sister company, Kilgore, in Toone,Tennessee. The factory went through several ownership changes until finally finding the combination of shareholders that we have now, including myself. We made a business decision to get out of the military side of the the business and concentrate our efforts on fireworks.

Specialized Pyrotechnics is the first company to release multi-shot "cakes" onto the Canadian market. What were the circumstances that allowed this to happen ? Was it a difficult task to accomplish, given the excessively restrictive regulations for Canadian fireworks set by the the Explosives Regulatory Division of Natural Resources Canada ?

Not really. I've worked very closely with the Explosives Branch for 18 years. However, as usual, we had to be very careful to follow allowable designs uncluding the 7 tube maximum, explosive limits and stability. We now have some larger cakes authorized such as the "Show Stopper" and "Big Foot Blitz".

Does Specialized have plans to introduce other multi-shot cake items in the future ? Any chance of a 12 or even 25 shot cake ever being released in Canada ?

"Show Stopper" and "Big Foot Blitz" are only the first in a range of larger cakes. The maximum allowable number of tubes in a sequentially fired item is 7. However, I have just received approval for a 49-shot 1.5" Titanium Salute w/Tails multi-shot cake for display use only.

Where do you see the Canadian Fireworks market going over the next 10 years ? One thing I have noticed is that every year or two, the prices seem to go up, while the quality of the items remains stagnant, or in some cases actually declines.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that in Canada we have seen substantial increases in the cost of tubes, plastic materials, chemicals, paper, not to mention labour costs! The consumer fireworks market is driven by price. If we, as a manufaturer, have to raise our prices to cover additional costs the customers are up in arms! Some manufaturers lessen the pyrotechnic load to compensate - we do not. I know that from our point of view, we can barely make enough fireworks to meet the demand. The market in general is growing slowly - I must admit that we all got a little boost for New Year's Eve 1999/2000 and there is still some residual effects especially in the display business. I think there will be changes on a regional level over the next few years. For example, some municipalities in British Columbia have banned Roman Candles. Still, better a partial ban than a total one!!