visual - Perplexing Fireworks

In the Perfectly Pixelated Puzzling Plaza, some people were setting off fireworks. Being the puzzling fellows that they are, they couldn't bear to just set off fireworks for the sheer enjoyment of it (who would want that?). So they decided to hide a message inside one of the fireworks.

And sure enough, as the particularly perplexing firework had been set off and the the sparks started to fall, some noticed a message that had been woven into that firework.

Perhaps, from this photo of the firework exploding, you can see the message too.

Answer

Vertically compressing the pixels in each column (the clause "[as] the sparks started to fall, some noticed a message" implies a change in the relative vertical alignment of the pixels)

yields

- - - - # # # - # # # - # # # - # # # - # - # - # - - - # # # - - - - 
  - - - # - - - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - - - # - - - - - 
    - - # # # - # # # - # # # - # # # - # # - - # - - - # # # - - 
      - - - # - # - - - # - # - # # - - # - # - # - - - # - - - 
        # # # - # - - - # - # - # - # - # - # - # # # - # # # 

where # represents orange and - represents red.

And this is a picture representing it (thanks to Cristian Marian who posted it in the comments):

Here we plainly see the word

"SPARKLE"

spelled out, which is presumably the message.