Fireworks Shaming

[GreatLakes]

I hate people that shoot off their own fireworks. They are <word I can't say here> and I'm never unhappy when they lose fingers.

Leave it to the professionals and let my kid sleep and dog not have an anxiety attack every year.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

Add me to the camp of keep it to the professionals and the scheduled public displays. However, if you must set off your own, all anyone asks is to keep it to reasonable hours. Dusk to about 11 p.m. as someone earlier in the thread mentioned is something I think we can tolerate. However, unfortunately, people have just lost so much common courtesy and feel entitled to do whatever the heck they want, regardless of how it affects anyone else. If you want to keep celebrating the 4th of July late into the night and for days surrounding the holiday, feel free, but do it in such a way that you aren’t disturbing the whole neighborhood at 2 a.m.

 

[slo]

So you have never been on a message board for your subdivision but you just assume it would be full of toxic complaining? Maybe it's full of neighbours being neighbourly. If you just assume the worse why do you live someplace so toxic that you assume a message board would be toxic?

You’re right - I shouldn’t assume that.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Our neighborhood board is a mix. A lot of information, a ton of kindness, an unbelievable tool if, let's say, your pet gets out. Everyone is on the hunt and the fur baby is found almost instantly.

But there are some hot topic items discussed and argued over every once in a while. I admit, I love that!

But, hey! I am on the Community Board here. It's obvious that I enjoy the drama or else I would back out of here fast.

It makes me laugh out loud that people who post here often are above the theatrics involved in neighborhood message boards. It's just like the DIS, except you KNOW these people

 

[VandVsmama]

I have no idea if there’s a message board for our subdivision, and if there is I wouldn’t be part of it because I don‘t want to be a part of toxic complaining.

We have a lot of fireworks here and I honestly enjoy them. Last night I sat up on our pool deck for over and hour and watched them all
around me - I love it! My poor 13 year old Yorkie doesn’t love it though, so she gets wrapped up in her thunder shirt, is given a doggie downer that the vet gave me, and goes in the basement with DH to watch TV. Doing all this helps her get through the night easier than without doing anything.

For me….I don’t get all worked up about something I can’t control. People have been blowing off fireworks for years and years. Is it aggravating when people are still blowing them off at midnight - yes. But I know it’s going to happen, so I put in some earplugs and go to bed. Instead of being reactive with getting all ticked off, I get proactive to make things easier

(bolded for emphasis)

I used to be on the FB group for our subdivision. It's a large development and the group has 2000-3000 people in it. I eventually left the FB group. It was non-stop complaining from people, most of whom thought that the HOA had ultimate power over everything (i.e., like things that one would call law enforcement for) around here.

 

[Pink Partridge]

• How come my husband isn't helping (um, sort of presumptuous that I am married in the first place, but whatever, lady)?

Looking back, wouldn't you have loved to have said "I have husbands. Multiple. I'm in a polyamorous marriage. They are all out trying to find additional wives to bring home right now, and I am trying to get this place fixed up."

And then just stood there in silence and stared at her for the reaction.

And THEN checked the neighborhood message board that evening and watched the fun go down

 

[ncc1701]

The message board for my neighborhood is all about announcing events, asking for recommendations for various services, and listing of items for sale. Very boring, and no complaining.

We have 2 boards in our town that I belong to. One is like the above mentioned board. The other is a Rants & Raves board. Combination of complaints and complaints. Some of the complaints are legit others are something else.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If you are lighting fireworks, you are a terrible person.

 

[Kamy04]

I don’t love fireworks. I hate them, actually, but endure professional displays for my kids. I always sit far away at professional displays because they make me nervous. I also don’t like the noise. My dog doesn’t seem to mind, though, and my kids are older now so that aspect isn’t

I’m a Jackets fan and the death of Kivi has hit me hard today. The info is getting worse…sounds like he was at the goalie coaches daughters wedding. Most likely the other goalie (and his best friendwere right there. Can you imagine? Ugh. I’m going to have nightmares tonight. I say leave them to the pros!

Interestingly enough, I have no heard any tonight. I wonder if it has anything to do with theJackets goalie incident.

 

[bcla]

No....he died from massive trauma to the chest...from a "mortar"....aka, an errant firework. The first reports that he hit his head were false.

Yeah - I heard the original report that he was fleeing from it and hit his head, but the latest reports are that it hit him directly.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id...lie-matiss-kivlenieks-24-dies-tragic-accident​

Police in Novi, Michigan, said the mortar-style firework tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby Sunday night. The 24-year-old Kivlenieks was in a hot tub and tried to get clear with several other people, Lt. Jason Meier said.​

I've seen professional fireworks that went wrong. I've seen a mortar tube on a cleared field that fell down and started shooting a little too close to people. Once after a baseball game I saw one that was shot from a cleared portion of the stands, and it was clearly going somewhere it wasn't meant to go. It was a good thing that nobody was there.

 

[backformore]

My neighbors have not received the message that July 4 is over. Then again, to them July 4 started on memorial day.

 

[HashberryOTG]

One of our dogs gets scared, so I haven't slept as much the past couple of nights. I don't feel people shouldn't set them off because of my dog tho. We would be able to hear the town fireworks anyways and we'd have to deal with that. I do take issue with people setting them off near my home, or until 2am (which is when I heard the last one last night). It's almost 11 and they're still going for tonight.

I don't expect the average person to consider my pets, or someone's PTSD when setting them off legally. I don't think they should have to.

They're illegal here. If I could figure out where they came from I'd report it. But if I can't give enough info to be useful, I'm not going to waste a cops time over the noise. But its frustrating. I live in city limits for a reason. Go where it's legal to set them off, go to the various towns that all coordinated to set them off on different nights. I think actual shaming is called for, but I do feel it's acceptable to call my non emergency line, as suggested by our local police, and report it in my area.

Maybe that makes me old and crotchety . I'd just like to see someone show more respect for others than themselves and follow the danged laws.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

In my city fireworks are legal twice a year — until midnight on July 4th and until 1am on New Year’s Eve. I’ve only been here two years, but as far as I’ve noticed people seem to respect those boundaries. The only other day of the year where fireworks are a big thing is Diwali. While not technically legal then, the general attitude among neighbors and on local social media pages seems to be positive towards fireworks being used in celebration of Diwali and it’s given a pass.

Our community had a professional fireworks display on July 2nd and the 4th was left to private citizens. Many people were setting them off; I could hear them all around and in the distance. They started at dark and stopped by about 10:45pm. I didn’t hear any in the days leading up to the 4th and there were none tonight. My pets aren’t stressed by them, no one on my street/immediate vicinity was setting them off, and ultimately they were a non-issue for us.

BUT…

I used to live in a community where people set the stupid things off year round at all hours for no good reason. It was incredibly obnoxious and dangerous. It littered the neighborhood and I used to find spent shells in my yard. My jerkwad neighbor nearly sent one into the side of my house one time. It was a townhouse community (!!) and there was absolutely no safe or respectful way to set off fireworks when houses are that close together and they’re being set off any day at any time.

The way people treat fireworks in my current area is fine — it’s enjoyable as a special occasion festivity. However, I’ve experienced how miserable it can be to live in a place where it’s out of control so, given the choice, I would elect to ban private use. For the people and animals with anxiety and PTSD, the wildlife who can’t escape indoors for respite, the safety aspects, the people who have to work in the morning… There’s just no need to be setting off explosives in residential settings. It’s absurd when you think about it.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Yeah - I heard the original report that he was fleeing from it and hit his head, but the latest reports are that it hit him directly.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id...lie-matiss-kivlenieks-24-dies-tragic-accident​

Police in Novi, Michigan, said the mortar-style firework tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby Sunday night. The 24-year-old Kivlenieks was in a hot tub and tried to get clear with several other people, Lt. Jason Meier said.​

I've seen professional fireworks that went wrong. I've seen a mortar tube on a cleared field that fell down and started shooting a little too close to people. Once after a baseball game I saw one that was shot from a cleared portion of the stands, and it was clearly going somewhere it wasn't meant to go. It was a good thing that nobody was there.

Wild and crazy accident. It not uncommon to have mortar drop but they are usually small and not dangerous in my experience. We have shot fireworks for decades with no serious injuries. Although we shoot them over our lake. ..very safe environment .
BTW fireworks are legal here.

 

[bcla]

BTW fireworks are legal here.

I find that really weird, since any kind of nonprofessional fireworks that leave the ground are extremely illegal around here, even though that never stops anyone.

I remember a friend who would order fireworks from a supplier in the late 80s. I saw the catalog, which included a lot of rockets and a claim that they were certified by the California State Fire Marshal. I'm pretty sure that's not true, but this friend claimed to have gone to the local fire station and asked about it where they said they were OK.

I've seen news stories about firework stores selling fireworks. Around here, the only places that have any kind of consumer fireworks are either party poppers and snaps (you can find these at local Target stores) or at nonprofit fundraising stands. And these stands have limited hours/days and are usually cheap plywood structures like this:

 

[Sugardimples]

We had a house fire in the next neighborhood caused by fireworks a few days ago and a child died. Both parents and siblings hospitalized. All for fireworks.

 

[Summer2018]

We had a house fire in the next neighborhood caused by fireworks a few days ago and a child died. Both parents and siblings hospitalized. All for fireworks.

This is the most compelling reason why fireworks should be left to the professionals.

 

[sam_gordon]

And people can and do get hurt/killed every year.

Here's the problem with this argument... there are a LOT of things that hurt/kill people every year. From mowing the lawn to painting a house. Should all of those be "left to the professionals" also? Now, should there be a designated time (say before 11p? Heck, it didn't even get dark here until 9:45 or so) for them to be set off? Absolutely. But that's going to come down to enforcement. As I mentioned earlier, I can even understand setting them off on days other than the holiday.

 

[amylevan]

My husband and his friend have a firework hobby. They are legal here (up to a certain mortar size, and they stick to that size), they built racks for the tubes so they can’t fall over, and they use a board so that they are ignited with the push of a button from a safe distance. We also set them off in a farmers field - so there isn’t any structure nearby.

They also stick to the 4th of july, New Year’s Eve, etc although a friend had them do a show for a graduation party recently. And I personally would have a fit if done at 2 am.

But you can’t please everyone and someone will complain about something. My husband finds it rude when one neighbor blows his grass trimmings into the street. I guess the fireworks is our thing. But since they’re legal…

 

[Pink Partridge]

We had a house fire in the next neighborhood caused by fireworks a few days ago and a child died. Both parents and siblings hospitalized. All for fireworks.

Although it is heartbreaking that a child died so tragically, that fire was caused by an ember from an unnamed firework that was placed in a plastic recycling bin. For all we know, it could have been a sparkler.