Last updated January 1, 2008 10:23 p.m. PT

Mike Urban / P-I

Fireworks explode off the top of the Space Needle, bringing in 2008, as seen from a condo complex on lower Queen Anne.

Computer glitch put hitch in fireworks

Technicians set off commands by hand for Space Needle event

Glitchy New Year.

Thousands of people gathered in the crisp, cold but gloriously clear air Monday night for Seattle's preeminent New Year's Eve celebration, the midnight fireworks show on the Space Needle, only to inaugurate 2008 by ringing it in with a computer malfunction.

"The evening had been going smoothly up until that happened," said Dan McConnell, a spokesman for the Space Needle.


		Karen Ducey / P-I
	Benjamin Marshall, an engineer for the Space Needle, replaces burned-out Christmas tree bulbs on top of the Needle on Sunday. "I've been wanting to go up there," he said. "It's fun."

Given the exceptionally nice winter weather, McConnell said the crowd looked significantly larger than the 5,000 or so spectators that typically come for this annual show.

Technicians with Pyro Spectaculars, the California fireworks company that has for the past 14 years flawlessly managed the event, had to abandon the computerized controls this time and set off more than 1,580 commands by hand over the space of about 11 minutes.

"It was intense," said Mary Bacarella, director of communications for the Space Needle.

Bacarella was in the control room with the Pyro technicians when, only a minute or so before midnight, they realized that the computer program was not working.

Abandoning any attempt to choreograph the fireworks with the outdoor music, Bacarella said, the Pyro techs manually began "just setting things off." One fireworks device attached to the edge of the observation deck simply fizzled away for about a minute.

The fireworks show stalled twice, prompting members of the KING/5 crew exclusively covering the live event to ad lib and wonder aloud what was happening.

The Space Needle, with co-sponsorship from Quadrant Homes, paid Pyro about $110,000 for the show. McConnell said, "There will be discussions," but it would be premature to even talk about the possibility of a refund or compensation for the glitch.

Bacarella said Pyro technicians are not certain what precisely went wrong with their computerized controls beyond the fact that a "file was corrupted."

She said the company's representatives were "on the Needle" removing their equipment Tuesday afternoon and unavailable for comment.

P-I reporter Tom Paulson can be reached at 206-448-8318 or tompaulson@seattlepi.com.
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