When the clock finally struck midnight, even more fireworks were shot into the sky. It was very loud and colorful! The last firework didn't stop until 1:30am!
Fireworks are extra special in Iceland because its search-and-rescue teams sell fireworks to raise money for their work. All Icelandic search-and-rescue teams are made up entirely of volunteers, meaning they don't get paid for their work and have to buy their equipment themselves. So, it's become a tradition for everyone to buy all of their New Year's Eve fireworks from the search-and-rescue teams. This is how the teams raise enough money to buy new equipment and fix existing tools to use throughout the rest of the year. It's a very important fundraiser for them.
While the tradition of fireworks on New Year's Eve isn't connected to Iceland's environment, the support for search-and-rescue teams is. Iceland is very safe most of the time, but its natural environment can be risky. Things like volcanoes, strong ocean waves and avalanches (aptly called a snjóflóð (SNYO-floth), or "snow flood" in Icelandic) can be dangerous, and the weather is unpredictable. The search-and-rescue teams are very important to help rescue people from bad weather and natural disasters. Especially during the winter, they are called on a lot. So, every firework during New Year's Eve is like a big, bright takk fyrir (TAK FI-rir)—a "thank you"—to the search-and-rescue teams!
