Patriotic Fireworks Manager Josh Hernly sleeps in a tent with 3,000 pounds of explosives. Sounds dangerous, but as long as he doesn't smoke in the tent, there's nothing to worry about.\nWhen the hustle and bustle of the business day begins, Hernly rolls out of his air mattress bed to open up the tent, welcoming the world outside to join him in his firework specials. Stretching far past dinner time and darkness, the tent remains open until the final customers stop rolling in, and then it's back to bed for Josh to enjoy another night sleeping in a tent with a ton and a half of explosives.\n"I just blow up my air mattress and camp out," Hernly says about guarding the tent for a fortnight.\nPatriotic Fireworks is a company based out of Indianapolis, with a number of temporary businesses that open for the 4th of July season, like Hernley's tent by Cheeseburger in Paradise. \nJust up the road at Campus Costume, Owner John McGuire replaced his Jack Sparrow pirate display with a 35-inch Roman candle. Throughout the seasons, the locally owned costume store switches from selling Halloween costumes to Christmas decor, and this year, for the first time, John decided to break into the fireworks business.\nCostume sales were low during past summers, so in order to boost revenue, John decided to import fireworks from a distributor in Toledo, Ohio.\n"It was either this or the balloons, so we figured the 'boom boom' was the way to go," says Dario Andolini, a Campus Costume employee.\nBeing their first year selling fireworks, Andolini said Campus Costume has the lowest prices in town. \nLike McGuire and Hernly, firework businesses from all over the state decided to open up a seasonal shop in Bloomington. The summer's freedom festival brought in the managers of Anderson Fireworks and Mike's Fireworks. Both Ben Smith and Brad Barnes said they had friends in the business who recruited them.\nBen, manager of Anderson Fireworks, says the store opened toward the end of June and will close around July 6. Anderson Fireworks rented their retail space for only two months. Ben said he expects sales to increase as time ticks toward the holiday.\n"We've had a decent amount (of sales) for opening so early," Ben says. "We hope to make a lot of money."\nBrad, meanwhile, has been shooting off fireworks with his brother Greg in the parking lot of Varsity Court since he started working at Mike's Fireworks. Looking to increase sales during the summer, Mike's fireworks also started marketing their own brand fireworks. Inside the store they show a video that emphasizes the type of boom their brand firework has. \nNineteen years ago Steve Porter saw a man on the side of the road selling fireworks. He thought to himself, "selling fireworks would be a nice business to get into." Years later, he owns the only all-year firework store in town, Steve's Fireworks.\nSamantha Porter, Steve's daughter, said they do sell fireworks all year round but since fireworks are truly in season in the summer, they sell bibles in the off season. \nPorter explained that they have a new program running this year that offers customers a discount card that allows them 50 percent off of the entire store. She added that they have never raised their prices since they've been a working business.\nAfter July 4, these pop-up shops stay around town for a few days for customers to collect any last minute clearance bargains. The fireworks are then packed up and shipped out of town to their storage locations, to await the next firework season. It's then that Hernly finally deflates his air mattress, McGuire replaces the unsold fireworks with a giant Dora the Explorer costume, Smith and Barnes head back on to their hometown and the Porter family breaks out the bibles again.
Where to get fireworks:
Steve's Fireworks\nOn the left passed Forest Park Heights on SR-45/46 toward Ellettsville
Campus Costume\n10th and Bypass across from Tulip Tree Apartments
Anderson \nFireworks\nN. Walnut across from the \nBluebird
Mike's Fireworks\nThird street next to the Monroe Bank in Highland Village
Patriotic \nFireworks\nWhite tent in front of Cheeseburger in Paradise off 3rd.
These will knock your socks off...
1" Mini Artillery Shell (assorted)
Grade: 5/5
The individually wrapped launching tubes blast off into the air like a cannon ball and explode into a multicolor shower of fire. If you're daring enough, tie two or three of the shells together for maximum blasting fun in the name of America. The 1" mini shells were 2 for $9.99 at Mike's Fireworks and come with eight shells for your blasting pleasure. The standard size shells were $9.99 at Anderson Fireworks and come with six shells.
Flaming Bomb \nGrade: 5/5\nLike the name states, it's the bomb! Light one fuse and the single canister shoots off a sweet 16-round barrage of blue, green, red, yellow and white explosions into the night sky. $7.99 at Campus Costume.
35" 140 shots Jumbo Pyro Stick\nGrade: 4.5/5\nOnce you light the candle, you better run because it will shoot out balls of green, blue, red, yellow, white and pink light incredibly fast. This giant roman candle packs 17 times the heat of an average candle, with 140 rounds that explodes with a bigger bang than a Barry Bonds home run and shoot higher than Snoop Dog on 4/20. It's available for $12.99 at Campus Costume.
Goose Bumps\nGrade: 3.5/5\nFor only $5.99, you might think you're being shot at with these loud gun-sounding fireworks that launch approximately 16 rounds of yellow, red and white balls of fire. Goose Bumps lack height in their blast and these look pretty amateur compared to the higher explosion cakes, but they're good for shooting in smaller spaces. We can't guarantee actual goose bumps will appear on skin.
Small Festival Balls\nGrade: 4.5/5\nIf you want to be closer to the action, these shells blast closer to the ground with green, red and white lights \nigniting the sky. Like their cousin, the artillery shells, the explosion is wide and professional looking. This pack comes equipped with six shells.
