Couple Bonds Over Shared Love of Elaborate Pyrotechnic Displays

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Rich and Dee Gibson have a truly unique love story. The pair first met while skydiving, and clicked over their shared military experiences. Rich, a Vietnam vet, was the pilot, and Dee, a former employee of Army Corps of Engineers, was the jumper. The couple soon embarked on a world-wind romance, planning large, daring and explosive projects together. Their pyrotechnic business, Rich’s Incredible Pyro, is located in Rockford, Illinois, where for the past three decades they have been designing and creating epic combustible displays for air shows.

The subjects of a recent Op-Doc for the New York Times, the newspaper caught up with the now semi-retired couple in El Salvador at the Ilopango air show, where they guided the Gray Lady through one of their newest projects. Both a touching story of shared love and an excuse to look at truly awe-inspiring explosions, watch the short film above, created by Brooklyn filmmakers Colin Sonner and Brady Welch.