Tech Problems Shortened Rockville’s Fourth of July Fireworks

Last year it was the derecho. This year it was technical difficulties plaguing Rockville’s annual Independence Day fireworks.

A year after the city’s Fourth of July fireworks show was canceled in the aftermath of the June 2012 derecho storm, Thursday’s show was cut in half because of technical problems, according to a release from the city. About six minutes into the planned 20-minute show, unidentified problems forced the technician to cut directly to the three-minute finale, which went off without problems.

"We are disappointed," City Manager Barbara Matthews said in a statement. "This is an event our community looks forward to each year, and we take pride in providing high quality celebrations in Rockville. When working with explosives, technical difficulties can and do occur. Safety always has to be the priority."

The city is working with the fireworks vendor to figure out what prompted the problem and prevent it from happening again, the release said.