I have another frame-by-frame view of the opening fireball for Boomershoot 2026. This shows something I could not find in the previous set.

As a reminder, this is the assembled fireball target:

The vertical target at the bottom is for the shooter to initiate the chain reaction. The rubber bands hold the targets close together to ensure the explosion propagates from target to target. Rubber bands also hold the jugs of gasoline in a single unit and less susceptible to wind.

Here is the frame-by-frame evolution of the fireball:

Twenty road flares on ten pieces of rebar help ignite the gasoline vapor. The explosion alone will not ignite the gasoline. The gasoline must be turned into a vapor and mixed with air before it will ignite. The heat of the explosion is all gone by the time this happens. There must be another ignition source.

The frame above is very cool. The front facing target has detonated, but nothing else has moved. Below is a close up:

The shockwave moving through the earth from ground zero and creating the dust is always fascinating to me.

The frame above is what I wanted to see. The close up is below. You can see one of the origins of the flame which is far away from all the flares. You can also see what I believe are sparks flying through the cloud. We used particles of titanium sponge in the mix to create the sparks and help ignite the gasoline vapor. The flares along are not always enough. There were about 2-3/4 cups of the titanium in the targets. You can get the titanium here and here. The exact product we used this year was this but that is currently sold out. Titanium sponge is used in fireworks:

Titanium is a highly energetic fuel used to make bright white, long hang fireballs with good branching and very good crackle in fountains, rockets, stars, comets, saxons and drivers.

Nearly $450 turned into fire, noise, smoke, and a lifetime of memories in about four seconds.