On July 4, a 225,000-square-foot site, 12,000 pounds of fireworks, 2,051 electronically triggered events, 800 hand-lit shells and 25 “dragons” that throw columns of flames 30 feet in the air will add up to the massive presentation of “Boomtown.” In the Kansas town of Wamego, this free pyrotechnic extravaganza will rocket its population from 5,000 to something like 50,000 this Independence Day. Families arrive not just from neighboring towns but neighboring states to witness a 30-minute Fourth of July fireworks show that’s among the largest and most ambitious in the Midwest. And behind it all is the Pyro Crew, a tight-knit group of Wamego volunteers who have staged the event for the past two decades. They are optometrists and auto mechanics, home builders and hospital administrators. They are volunteers only in the sense that they are not paid. Collectively, they spend thousands of hours every year preparing the big show. Read more about what goes into the huge firework display at...