Crews Preparing Boston Fireworks Display For Fourth Of July

BOSTON (CBS) - In just three days, hundreds of thousands of people will flock to Boston for Fourth of July celebrations.

The "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular" is the main event, bringing musical performances, and of course, the pyrotechnics.

Event organizers are working through this heat wave, and gave an up-close look as they load up barges along the Charles River with plenty of firecrackers.

"We have approximately 10,000 devices between the barge and the bridge. That's a total of about 4,000 firing queues for the computers," said Dan Havens of Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.

The gunpowder is strong enough to send these shells flying 700-feet up in the sky.

The crew from "Fireworks by Grucci" says they're incorporating some family tradition to the end of this year's show.

"The great thing about these shells is when they break, they descend with a gold flitter and there's a secondary break and they fill the sky with gold," said Havens.

The company used a similar golden effect with the Fireworks Spectacular show in the 1970s.

"That's kind of our signature that we're going into the finale," said Jeff Schneider of Fireworks By Grucci.

Organizers are asking boats to stay at least 1,000 feet away from the barges, as they work to make sure this year's fireworks display will go off without a hitch.