For the third time in the CN Tower’s history, pyrotechnics designer Eric Tucker shot fireworks off the 553 metre building as part of Sunday night’s Pam Am Games closing ceremony.

Tucker travels the world creating fireworks displays, from Boston’s Fourth of July celebrations to Disney theme parks and Olympic ceremonies in between. Toronto can also thank him for the nightly displays at Nathan Phllips Square. But he says the CN Tower is one of his biggest challenges.

Below is an edited version of our conversation with him ahead of Sunday’s show.

Why did you decide to incorporate the tower?

How do you not do the tower here? It’s an icon. It’s one of the tallest structures on earth. I had done it before on the millennium, so I knew the structure and I knew the people. As an organization they’re great to work with so that is imperative in trying to work with a building on that scale, not to mention its unique design.

Why was New Year’s Eve 2000 the only other time?

You need a special moment. The millennium certainly was one and the Pan American Games certainly is one. A lot of stakeholders have to step in with you. We have to close the plaza below us. We have to custom make the product. Everything that’s on the tower was custom built for the tower. It’s a deal. It’s a really hard one to work with. It’s kind of like the Burj Khalifa of North America.

Have you done that one?

No! I turned it down, actually. The CN Tower is hard enough.

Were you able to use any of the equipment you used the last time?

Not one piece. Technology has changed in a very good way a lot since 2000. So everything ended up different. Everything had to be rebuilt.

What are the numbers? How many pounds of explosives?

There’s about 2,500 units on the tower per show. That’s equates to about 2,000 pounds. And we’re doing three minutes here. It doesn’t look that big when you’re staring at it, but when you get up there, it’s 400 ft. around. So you use a whole lot of small products to make a big effect. It’s the hard way to do it, but it’s also the safe way. And it’s round which makes things so much harder.

Why is that?

Because you’re working in 360 (degrees). You have to figure out where the camera’s going to be and start your looks there, or end your looks there as you come around the tower. It’s just, round is harder.

How do you get the fireworks up there?

Everything happens in the middle of the night. So we lock down the entire building, transport the goods up there in a special elevator and then it goes into what’s called a pyro lock down room. From there we populate the 72 firing positions.

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How many days does it take to load it up?

It takes about four days. You’ve got equipment, electronics, and then the pyrotechnic product goes up and is kitted into its specially designed mounting structures that are then moved out one by one. None of this will come out until the night before show day. On show day it’s magically out there for the entire day and waiting for its show that night.

How many people are putting it out the night before?

Eight.

Does the crew use the EdgeWalk?

Yes, we use the rigging system they use for the EdgeWalk because it’s so good and it allows you lateral movement all the way around. And so everything comes out one by one and it is locked into place. No matter where we put it, it’s just too high up in the air, so everything has stainless steel clamps and screws and safety cables. It’s a lot more trouble than we’re normally used to. For very good reason.

So it’s like going out on the EdgeWalk but with a bunch of explosives under your arm?

Yeah. Yeah, pretty much.

Where will you be during the show?

It’s all pre programmed and it runs to a very specific time code. I’m in the control room inside the Rogers Centre. I’m looking at broadcast monitor, I’m looking down on the field and I’m on three or four different broadcast networks talking to people.