A.M. Pyrotechnics files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

A fireworks company based in Buffalo has filed for bankruptcy for the second time since 2014.

A.M. Pyrotechnics LLC, owned by Aaron Mayfield, filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition on Feb. 27 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri. According to the petition, the company also filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2014.

Founded in 1997, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting, A.M. Pyrotechnics is based in Buffalo and considered a major North American seller of fireworks and choreographer of fireworks displays. 

The company made headlines in July 2018 and in November 2025. In each instance, an A.M. Pyrotechnics employee died, according to multiple local news accounts. In 2018, a nighttime warehouse explosion caused the death of an employee; in 2025, another employee died in a fire the morning of Nov. 26.

The 45-page Feb. 27 bankruptcy filing by A.M. Pyrotechnics states the company has debts of more than $1 million owed to fewer than 50 creditors.

When asked for comment this morning, Mayfield sent a written statement to SBJ.

“A.M. Pyrotechnics recently filed for Chapter 11 protection as part of a structured reorganization process,” Mayfield wrote. “The company has operated for nearly three decades, and the filing allows us to address certain financial matters while evaluating strategic options for the future of the business.

“Because this is an active legal process before the court, I’m not in a position to comment on specific creditors, claims or circumstances referenced in the filing. Our focus right now is on working through the reorganization process in an orderly and responsible manner.”

A summary of A.M. Pyrotechnics’ assets included in the Feb. 27 bankruptcy filing lists approximately $1.4 million in personal and real properties, including over 178 acres of land, much of which is used as loan collateral.

A summary of liabilities by the company included in the bankruptcy petition lists roughly $939,000 in debts owed. Among them, roughly $103,000 is owed to Arkansas-based Dominator Fireworks, classed as a disputed pre-2014 debt owed to that company, which on its website describes itself as “one of China’s fastest growing fireworks brands.”

Other debts include some $115,000 owed to the IRS for “941 liabilities;” in other words, quarterly tax return obligations including withholdings for income, Social Security and Medicare taxes. Additionally, the company owes roughly $5,000 to the Missouri Department of Labor for unemployment taxes, the court filing shows.

Per the voluntary petition, other debts include myriad business loans and trade vendors, including $55,000 owed to Mayfield Brothers Fireworks, based in Pleasant Hope.

A creditors’ meeting for the bankruptcy process is scheduled by phone for April 7, federal court records show.