Illegal flares and smoke clouds are not entirely foreign to Section 8. In its first two years at Toyota Park, and in its years at Soldier Field, many contraband objects have made their way into Section 8's depths. This includes both illegal flares and smoke devices, but doing so carries the risk of severe punishment. That is why the cumulative force of Section 8, the Section 8 Chicago ISA, has been working since Toyota Park's inception to coordinate displays using both marine safety flares and smoke machines to produce an intimidating atmosphere and keep Chicago at the top echelon of fans in North America. In order to do a show like this the ISA must come to an agreement with the Fire front office and also meet many requirements set forth by both the city of Bridgeview and the State of Illinois. Both require that those undertaking the display be licensed and insured, and doing so has proven to be a complicated endeavor.

    Michael Giacometti, a Fire fan working with the pyrotechnic logistics on behalf of the ISA says he hopes to soon be "creating an atmosphere unparalleled in the league, but in a way that is at the same time respectful to the authorities that dictate stadium policy, and local, state, [and] federal governing bodies."  He alludes to the fact that although the Section is really excited in creating a unique experience, there is a lot of legal red tape to get through in order to make this happen. Insurance has proven to be one of the most difficult requirements as Section 8 and the ISA are self-funded entities; dependent wholly on supporter's donations and merchandise sales, and the insurance needed for a pyrotechnics show would put undue strain on its budget. In addition to insurance, the state requires pyrotechnics licenses' for all operators of the show and the city of Bridgeview requires its own licenses as well. Despite this the ISA have begun the process of attempting to jump through all the legal hoops and emerge with something that would be the envy of the league while also completely lawful.

    According to Liam Murtaugh, ISA Director of Operations, his hope for the ISA is to soon have a display made of "red and white handheld marine signal safety flares. They have a very high candlepower and create great effect." He does admit, though, that it is difficult getting the Fire front office to understand "if a device is safe to be held in a rubber boat stranded in the ocean without fear of it melting your craft, it's safe to be held on concrete a reasonable distance from masses of people." In fact, safety seems to be the number one priority to those undertaking this endeavor, and they have put time into finding out the safest ways to do a display.  "In terms of safety we are looking at Norwegian and Swedish groups who have similar pyrotechnic laws to the U.S. but still find a way to allow for safe, fan led displays," Murtaugh said.

    Despite the setbacks with insurance and licenses, the ISA and Section 8 is committed to bring a supporters led pyrotechnics show to Toyota Park. The attitude of the ISA is that the show is a plausible idea, it will just take time to get all the necessary steps in order and once that is complete, a display can be had. Ben Burton, Chairman of the ISA says "I don't think it's a huge challenge to meet all the requirements, as long as the village and team don't actively attempt to stop us."

    Recently, the ISA has come to some compromise with the Front Office, and last year terms were laid out to allow Strictly FX, who does the pyrotechnics for the team itself, to implement a remote operated smoke machine near the capo stand in section 118. By working with Strictly FX, the team has allegedly located a red dye which can be used to tint the smoke for Section 8's use, and the ISA has already added a second smoke machine to section 117.  This is a start, but the ISA has much bigger plans for the future and are going to take each step necessary to achieve their ultimate goal. Flares and flags joined together to further enhance the greatest atmosphere in North American soccer.

-- M. Groark (martygroark[at]gmail.com)

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4 Comments

Bahns. July 11, 2008	It will be a great day in our supporters' history when the Harlem End is finally lit up in a choreographed pyro display. As the next step in Section 8 tifo, this post is a perfect follow-up to the history of Chicago Choreo. On both parts, excellent work once again from Backdraft.
Paullews July 18, 2008	IT will never happen,the fire dept will never let you do it.
WolfmanHasNards! August 02, 2008	Great article. Too bad it too nearly a month for me to read! I had no idea some of the finest from Section 8 were still working to get organized pyro at TP. Major props to Giaco and anyone helping out with this task. Flares work wonders for game atmosphere. It works around the globe and it can work in Chicago too if only the f.o. would just let it happen. Though I understand why they oppose it. Still, what the worst that could happen? I've never read accounts of people injured by flares in Turkey or Serbia where grounds are often lit up with hand held flares.
douglas August 21, 2008	sorry but I don't want to breathe your smoke. are these marine flares certified to not cause asthma attacks?