IN THE PIPELINE:

“I like the big ones, “ he giggled with an almost sinister glee.

Clearly this guy loves his job.

“The 8-inch shells are great, but that time during the ’84 Olympics when we got to launch two 24-inch shells — 140 pounds each — man! It took two people to load them into a mortar buried 13 feet into the ground, and 15 pounds of black powder to blast them 2,000 feet in the air!”

Meet Jeff Eidemiller, chief pyrotechnician for the Zambelli Fireworks Internationale Company. He’s also the man in charge of your Huntington Beach Fireworks spectacular this Fourth of July.

I’m speaking to him while he’s in Stockton, producing a fireworks show for a couple’s 50th wedding anniversary. In terms of spectacle, Jeff says it’s the same size show Surf City will be getting. One can only imagine the light in the wife’s eyes as the couple celebrates their golden moment together.

Jeff, who’s downright giddy when talking fireworks, tells me that our show will include some 1,500 rounds—making it the largest attended fireworks display west of the Rockies. He’s been “shooting” (his term) for the legendary Zambellis since 1981, and it’s hard to imagine a better man for the job. His energy and enthusiasm crackle like so many summer sparklers, and it’s evident that our local show is in the right hands. (Zambelli, so you know, is proudly known as the “First Family of Fireworks,” and they’re one of the oldest and largest American fireworks companies.)

Jeff’s responsibilities for producing shows such as this entail everything — setting up the equipment, managing the crew, loading the fireworks, making sure the display is fired according to plan and even the post-show cleanup. He crafts the musical soundtrack as well, and this year the theme is “Let Freedom Ring,” featuring patriotic music from Ray Charles, Toby Keith and the Philadelphia Philharmonic, among other artists.

The 54-year-old shooter started in the business at age 17 in Arcadia, where he grew up. His pyro skills have taken him around the world, creating shows in Australia, Mexico, Canada and many other places. He’s worked at Disneyland, all Six Flags parks, the Queen Mary, concerts by The Who, Garth Brooks and many other events.

His favorite gig thus far? The seven years he spent each July atop Mount Rushmore, blasting airborne, candy-colored explosives into the black night above the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Today, he produces about 18 shows a year. His favorite specific firework is a specialty shell that produces a happy face in midair (he explains that the design is created by the burst charge in the middle of the shell —which looks just like a happy face and is simply expanded once the shell explodes).

Interestingly, this is simply a hobby for the gleeful shooter. Eidemiller works for the California Water Service Company up near Los Gatos as senior technician in charge of the computer pump controls. But his weekends are made for fireworks shows.

A purist at heart, he designs his productions using electricity instead of computers — thus allowing for the human element of actually pushing a button which launches the blasts.

“Hand fired is better,” he says. “You feel it. And when you hear the crowd react, well, that’s why we do it.”

Our spectacular this year marks something special for Eidemiller, too. His daughter, 23-year-old Caty, will be firing the show along with her dad. She’s next in the family line, and if she’s anything like Jeff, she’s sure to have a blast.

•The finale will consist of 500 rounds of fireworks, set off in the last 40 seconds of the show.

• 12 tons of paper and wood are used to detonate the fireworks, nearly all of it saved and reused.

• A crew of six technicians from Zambelli Internationale Fireworks Company lay two miles of detonator wire for the electrically choreographed show.

•Zambelli is careful to ensure none of the launch wires from the fireworks show ends up in the ocean.

• Nearly all of the materials from the fireworks explodes and burns; anything that falls to Earth is made up of mineral salts and paper. The paper biodegrades within three days or less.

For more information on the Fourth of July celebration, visit www.hb4thofjuly.org.

I’m doing a book signing for “Huntington Beach Then & Now” from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Barnes & Noble in Bella Terra. If you know any baseball fans, during the signing, anyone purchasing “Huntington Beach Then & Now” will receive a free, first-edition copy of my book, “Roadside Baseball.” (Second edition comes out next spring so this is it for the firsts).

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 14 books including the new “Huntington Beach Then & Now.” You can write him at chris@chrisepting.com.