It started with a fireworks show that lit up the night, much like the city of Santa Clarita’s Fourth of July Fireworks Show will tonight atop a Westfield Valencia Town Center parking lot Monday, July 4 at 9:15 p.m.

Dave Palmer, a Castaic resident and pyrotechnic operator for Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, was at his brother’s high school graduation more than two decades ago when his professional interest was piqued.

The fireworks show that accompanied the Central California graduation ceremony fascinated him, and an “in” in the industry and a clear enjoyment for what he does, left him in the early morning hours Monday meticulously arranging the 371 “cues” that will light up the night over Santa Clarita, with approximately 5,000 shots. He’ll be back again tonight to make sure the show goes off without a hitch.

“I have to hit 371 buttons to get this thing to go,” Palmer said, referring to tonight’s show. He’s been working with fireworks for 22 years now, and the man on the button, so to speak, at the mall for the last 10 years in Santa Clarita.

He said the agency of authority, in this case, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, gives the OK for a permit before the two-day buildup up for 21 minutes of bang, can begin.

Palmer then enjoys preparations during the early morning hours, sometimes as early as 1 a.m., and this year was no exception, with many of the dozens of 2.5- and 3-inch knee-high black ”shells” (thick plastic tubes, think PVC pipes) neatly arranged and already packed by 3 a.m. Monday.

At first glance, the tubes appear quite close together considering their pyrotechnic potential, but Palmer’s demeanor, caution and explanations allay concern. He fishes one of the baseball-sized fireworks — shape-wise, think of a shrunk-down bottom half of a bowling pin — out of the tube with the firing wire, and explains how it works. Different pyrotechnics light and launch different ways based on their shape and design.

“They’re all self-contained in there,” he said. “This has what’s called a tail, and this portion here will ignite as it goes up. As it goes up in the air, you’ll see that spin.”

And then, for tonight’s show, Palmer will use his firing board and his e-matches, or “squibs,” to choreograph the show with music that plays on KHTS AM-1220 at 9:15 p.m. (Click here to listen live to the show when it starts.)

The fireworks show itself is ordered by Pyro Spectaculars’ client, and then the company’s choreographer creates the show based on what’s desired. The precision of the timing comes down to seconds, Palmer said, as some shows are set to music, while other shows for performing artists require the timing to match up to lyrics.

The company has a heart-shaped firework to go off when the artist sings the word heart, and Palmer has about 3 seconds to ensure the pyrotechnics make their several-hundred-feet-per-second journey to the sky.

(Here’s information about how you can keep your pets safe during the Santa Clarita Valley fireworks displays.)

The Santa Clarita show has slightly scaled back the size of the bang over the years, he said, due to safety concerns, but that’s resulted in allowing for a more robust and colorful show, Palmer said. If a client orders fewer of a 5-inch shells, for example, it allows for more of the 2.5- and 3-inch versions that seem to light the sky all the same.

(KHTS is inviting residents to share their Fourth of July photos on our Facebook page, with the hashtag #HowDoYouFourth.)