Gerb (pyrotechnic)

Sometimes a small charge of black powder is added to the bottom of a gerb to make it finish with a bang: this charge is known as the 'bounce'. These are commonly used at sporting events.

Gerbs intended for use indoors near a proximate audience, such as at a rock concert, typically have shorter durations (from 1⁄8 to 30 seconds) and heights (4 to 50 feet).

Gerbs are usually measured in terms of time and height. For example, a 4×4 burns for 4 seconds at a height of 4 feet.

Eric Newby's book The Last Grain Race (chapter two: "Mountstewart") contains a 1938 reference to what appears to be the original gerb, a mortar bomb fired from a mortar.

Causes of the 2003 The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, US involved the use of gerbs,^[1] as did a 2015 fire in the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, Romania.