SAN DIEGO — The Fourth of July fireworks show went off with a bang over San Diego Bay. Too big a bang.
The Big Bay Boom show that was supposed to wow crowds for 20 minutes lasted only about 20 seconds after a computer mishap caused multiple bulb-shaped explosions on the bay, lighting the night sky over downtown San Diego.
The show’s producer blamed a “technical glitch” Thursday, saying an error in its computer system caused tens of thousands of fireworks on four barges to go off simultaneously with a single command.
Garden State Fireworks, based in Millington, N.J., apologized and vowed to determine what went wrong. The 122-year-old company produced hundreds of other shows across the country Wednesday night.
The mood was unforgiving among many of the hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed the explosions before they could get off their first “ooh” or “ah.”
The crowd stood in disbelief, with many wondering what just happened. Word went out on the radio about 20 minutes later that the show was over.
