Fireworks company failed to turn up: Haverfordwest RFC display

HAVERFORDWEST residents were left disappointed last night when an advertised fireworks display did not take place.

The Bonfire Night display, organised by Haverfordwest RFC, was cancelled after the company employed to organise the display failed to turn up.

Alun Wills, Chairman of the club told The Herald: “Our annual fireworks display is an extremely popular fixture on our events calendar and up until 6.30pm last night we were still in contact with Westcoast Fireworks, but since then we have had no communication from them and no explanation.”

Mr Wills added: “We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and we ask that you pass this message on to any family and friends who attended the club.”

Disappointed customers took to social media to express their disappointment.

Catherine Davies said on Facebook last night: “Absolutely gutted for Haverfordwest RFC who were let down by Westcoast Fireworks tonight with no explanation. They had dropped off equipment last night ready.

“Not only did they not turn up but refused to answer the phone so the club were left in limbo what to tell people. I hope they realise how much preparation from volunteers go into organising an event like this and how many people they have let down.

She added: “Well done Haverfordwest RFC for refunding everyone and apologising but Westcoast it doesn’t make up for all the disappointed children.”

Haverfordwest resident Gemma Dando, who is eight months pregnant, said: “What a crappy day. No fireworks after breaking my back. I stood for an hour and a half. I’m look forward to getting into bed.”

On Facebook Nick Chilton who was working for West Coast Fireworks on the Milford Haven display last night said: “The firer didn’t turn up, West Coast [were] absolutely at capacity for firing displays. We need more trained [staff].”

On Saturday (Nov 7) Matthew sand Lindsey Spencer of West Coast Fireworks released a statement:

They said: “We would like to apologise to everyone who attended the Haverfordwest RFC event on the 5th of November. We wish to extend our apologies to all the children, adults and organisers who went out of their way to attend a once a year event and were let down and left extremely upset and disappointed. There were circumstances beyond our control that unfortunately left us unable to attend.

“We also offer our most sincere apologies to the organisers also for not communicating with them better.

“Our teams are all allocated their displays and each team have their display, equipment & tools prepped and organised ahead of the display and are allocated a vehicle.

“On Wednesday evening we loaded the equipment and tools into a vehicle and transported it to the HRFC site, ready for the next day. This was done to save time during an already busy day. On the morning of November 5 each team collected their vans and equipment as arranged and left at a time suitable to arrive at their designated site. The time arriving on site is dependent on how long it takes to set up and rig the display.

“The team for Whitland and Milford Haven left first thing in the morning as they are our largest displays and take the longest time to erect.

“The HRFC display vehicle was scheduled to leave at 4.30pm and would have been the last one to leave as the equipment had already been dropped off the night before to save time on site on the day.

“Unfortunately due to a catastrophic communication error the HRFC display team failed to collect their vehicle. During the on site build process, all of our phones, lighters or anything that can cause a spark are left in our vehicles for safety. When, by chance, a phone was heard ringing – we were told that the HRFC team had not arrived on site as scheduled. This was around 6.30pm.

“We tried contacting the HRFC Display Team to no avail. We found ourselves in an awkward situation.
Do we: Take crew off other displays, making those displays run late or not happen at all?
Or do we hope the team turns up in time?

“If we had pulled resources from other displays, (Milford Haven/Whitland/Hook/Newcastle Emlyn) then each of those displays would have failed to be ready on time & disappointing more people in the process.

“The HRFC display should have taken 2 hours to build on site and by the time other crew could have got to the site with the products, it would have been at least 7.30pm and the display would not have been ready until 9.30pm at the earliest.

“A decision was made for our crews to stay at their designated sites and to go back to rigging their displays as planned for health and safety reasons, plus they would not have been ready on time, letting down all our other clients too.

“It was not a decision that was made lightly as we never wish to disappoint anyone, let alone all the children who were attending, but it was a choice that had to be made at the time.

“Our biggest failure during the situation, was not communicating our decision to the organisers of the HRFC display as all our crews had gone back to building their displays.

“We strive to provide our clients with the best display possible for the budget that has been allocated to us and our track record is second to none.

“Having been in business many years, it is not a situation we have ever encountered before and never wish to repeat in the future.

“We cannot apologise enough to everyone who attended.

The statement concluded: “HRFC have been loyal clients for many years and we are devastated that we have also let them down.”