Some things are just out of your control.

Marquette’s Fourth of July fireworks show at Mattson Lower Harbor Park fascinated and entertained many people, judging from comments on social media.

Unfortunately, the fireworks finale was missing.

The Marquette Area Fourth of July Celebration Committee provided an explanation on Facebook.

“A device malfunctioned, severing power to the equipment that detonates those shells,” it wrote. “No pyrotechnicians are on the ore dock, as the show is electronically fired. Everyone is safe. The show was originally scheduled to be 21 minutes.”

Mishaps have happened before as well.

In 2014, the Marquette Fourth of July fireworks celebration was cut short due to a small fire caused by the severing of a main communications cable.

The fire created technical and safety problems, and the display had to be halted.

It’s not an easy task, technologically or logistically, to put on a huge fireworks show, especially one on an abandoned ore dock. People also need to remember that no public funds go toward the Marquette show, which is funded through donations.

Keep in mind too that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no Marquette fireworks show took place in 2020. So, any fireworks that went up on the air this year were an improvement.

The Marquette Area Fourth of July Celebration Committee plans to meet in August to work on the 2022 show. New members are invited.

Anyone interested may email mqtfireworks@gmail.com to be added to a list.

People also may make donations at marquettefireworks.com.

There’s no guarantee that future fireworks shows will be free of glitches, but then again, how many events in life are certain?

It’s certainly worth the effort for the community to support a fireworks celebration, and we urge people to do just that.