Illegal Fireworks Shows (Rant)

[stsomewhere]

Our neighbors shot some the other night. They live 5 houses down. They were in my backyard, on my hammock , driveway and one on the windshield wiper of my car.

 

[Happy Mom2]

I hate fireworks, but unfortunately for me, they are legal in my parish. They are big money makers in my parish because they are illegal in all the surrounding parishes so everyone comes here to buy them.

I grew up popping firecrackers with my dad. We used to light them with a blow torch! How in the world my mom let me do that I will never understand. Don't get me wrong, I was closely supervised by my dad, but fireworks are dangerous.

It's going to be a LONG weekend with everyone around me popping fireworks. I'm praying for thunderstorms each night!!

 

[bballmom56]

You wanna borrow my copy of The Horse In The Grey Flannel Suit? My summer campers LOVE that one. It's my favorite live action Disney movie of all time.

I'm telling ya, you gotta move to the country. My closest neighbors are a 1/4 mile away and none of them "do" fireworks.

Yeah, I think that one is my favorite too!

Can't quite move any further to the country yet. Wouldn't work for DH's job. We have 17 acres ourselves which is pretty good around here. Trouble is the barn and paddocks are close to the neighbor's house. The paddocks where the horses are turned out go right to the property line (don't get me started on that one - that was another bone of contention with this neighbor. Boy, I miss the previous neighbor who lived there - he was wonderful!) So I have to be on alert every night he starts with his fireworks.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Ah, illegal fireworks...

I only dislike them because they scare my cats a lot. Otherwise, I don't really care. Plant life isn't too dry here in the beginning of July either.

They go off a lot in my neighborhood, around July 4th and New Years. I haven't been able to figure out if it's multiple people or just one person changing spots to evade the law. But as hazardous as they are, I look forward to them because I don't buy my own and they can be seen my almost anywhere in the city.

But if only the county would bring back an official fireworks show, now that the population of the county is about 600,000... I think they'd have worry a lot less about it. The do a show for the airshow, that's the only official one all year.

ETA: Illegal here=if they fly in the air.

 

[locolala]

I dont see the big deal. cops are not going to actually arrest anyone. and you are wasting their time for real calls by calling them in.

This assumes they are not shooting them at your house or anything.

Outside of that, just enjoy the show!

The cops DO come, that's the thing. You know why? 2 years ago, back home in WV, this happened.

3 homes were burned down and several acres of forest burned too. The fire started due to illegal fireworks. There are many locales that are cracking down on illegal fireworks shows. The numbskulls across the street last night were arrested and over 1k worth of fireworks were confiscated. I'm glad they took the fireworks, maybe tonight we'll get some REAL sleep.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Our neighbors shot some the other night. They live 5 houses down. They were in my backyard, on my hammock , driveway and one on the windshield wiper of my car.

Welcome to my world - we already lost a solar cover and a winter cover for our pool to our neighbors fireworks. I'm waiting for the house to burn down one day from them.

 

[Elmo9607]

I wouldn't mind them so much, except that I have to be asleep early because I have work in the morning or school or whatever and can't sleep through the racket.

I can't even see them through all our trees...I just hear all the noise. It might not be so bad if I could see them, but no. I love fireworks, but not when it's midnight and I have work in 6 hours.

They are illegal throughout the whole state of Illinois, but stores are allowed to sell sparklers/firecrackers and such. Anything else requires a drive to Indiana

 

[pilesoflaundry]

They just legalized fireworks in Rhode Island this past week so I knew that this weekend was going to be full of amateur shows.

Little did I know that someone would put on a 2 hour show right near my house at 3AM this morning. My cat is terrified of fireworks and thunderstorms and I could not sleep through the noise so I was not pleased.

Good luck!! I saw they are legal back home now but you only have to be 16 to buy them.

People have been buying them in NH and doing them illegally for years in RI but I worry now with actual green lights to get some.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

Good luck!! I saw they are legal back home now but you only have to be 16 to buy them.

People have been buying them in NH and doing them illegally for years in RI but I worry now with actual green lights to get some.

Yeah I grew up in Massachusetts so I am used to people crossing states lines with the illegal fireworks.

Having 16 year olds setting off fireworks makes me very nervous for my house lol

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

Every year around here there is at least one house destroyed, and an ER full of injured people, because of the illegal fireworks. They are more than a nuisance, they are dangerous.

I live close to some housing projects and it never fails that they set off fireworks. I cringe because those homes are connected to one another. If one goes off, they all will.

Then there was the guy that went from neighborhood to neighborhood trying to shoot fireworks off from the back of his car. That guy was brilliant; he aimed the rockets at homes because that was the only angle he could shoot them off without hurting his car.

 

[krcit]

I love to watch a fireworks show. I think they are beautiful. I hate when some knucklehead lights M-80's all night long. I also hate being at a party where set off illegal fireworks. That's my cue to leave....I'm terrified of someone getting burned. I also have never let my kids use sparklers. I'm a mean mom.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Welcome to my world - we already lost a solar cover and a winter cover for our pool to our neighbors fireworks. I'm waiting for the house to burn down one day from them.

If that had happened to me, I would surely have called the cops, and used the police report to take the neighbors to small claims court to be reimbursed.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

If that had happened to me, I would surely have called the cops, and used the police report to take the neighbors to small claims court to be reimbursed.

We finally did call the cops. We were too "nice" to do it earlier but we've had enough. DH has a bag filled with the "evidence". Now that we've filed a
police report if they shoot them into our yard again it will be easier to file a small claim. Of course now we're the "mean neighbors" because we called the police.

 

[SnowWhite607]

I hate fireworks, but unfortunately for me, they are legal in my parish. They are big money makers in my parish because they are illegal in all the surrounding parishes so everyone comes here to buy them.

I grew up popping firecrackers with my dad. We used to light them with a blow torch! How in the world my mom let me do that I will never understand. Don't get me wrong, I was closely supervised by my dad, but fireworks are dangerous.

It's going to be a LONG weekend with everyone around me popping fireworks. I'm praying for thunderstorms each night!!

You must live in Louisisna....I notice you said "parish"! hi neighbor!

 

[plutotek]

Let me say in my own defense, I have never made a fireworks run to Indiana. I don't have to enough people around here do it so that you can see them without having to even seek them out. Besides, I'm too cheap to pay a few hundered dollars for fireworks. The dollar store ones are good enough.

If I gave you the impression I was singling you out, I apologize as that was not my intent.

 

[ckay87]

Since there are so few of us, count me in as someone who doesn't mind them at all. I do mind the things that fly, but if people are just making noise in their own backyards at a reasonable hour around the 4th, I'm just not going to care.

 

[plutotek]

Ah, illegal fireworks...

I only dislike them because they scare my cats a lot. Otherwise, I don't really care. Plant life isn't too dry here in the beginning of July either.

They go off a lot in my neighborhood, around July 4th and New Years. I haven't been able to figure out if it's multiple people or just one person changing spots to evade the law. But as hazardous as they are, I look forward to them because I don't buy my own and they can be seen my almost anywhere in the city.

But if only the county would bring back an official fireworks show, now that the population of the county is about 600,000... I think they'd have worry a lot less about it. The do a show for the airshow, that's the only official one all year.

ETA: Illegal here=if they fly in the air.

Do they still do the show on the Columbia in Vancouver? I know they were having sponsor problems, but haven't heard anything of late.

 

[kirbsam]

i love to shoot off illegal firewarks as do my neighbors. lets face it sparklers and snakes suck...

 

[golfgal]

i love to shoot off illegal firewarks as do my neighbors. lets face it sparklers and snakes suck...

Snakes are good for keeping the bugs away though.

 

[taximomfor4]

not a fan of fireworks. Next door neighbors set them off. One year, we put up with it for 2 hours, till midnight. Then we called the police. The police came but sat there watching the show, and laughing with the neigbors. Seriously, I am sick of pulling bottle rockets out of our yard, and out of our gutters! Here, the houses are so close together I could spit on the neighbors' car out my dining room window if I wanted to.

The worst was the one year during a drought, the weather people were very concerned that fires would start easily where these things land. Did it stop anyone in my neighborhood? Nope.

disclaimer: when I was 5, the roof across the street caught on fire while I watched, during neighborhood fireworks "shows". 9 months later, my grandma died in a house fire. I am very, VERY fire-cautious. I don't WANT people lighting things' wicks, then sending them flying over/near my house. A few years later, the kid visiting several doors down from other Grandma was made to watch a home fireworks display from inside the house (for his protection). A bottle rocket, I think it was, didn't launch properly and flew through the screen where he was watching. Got him right in the eye. Nobody ever told me if he survived or not, I was pretty young at the time.

If I lived where it's legal, I wouldn't have anything to complain about I guess. But it's against the law here. I wish people would obey that.

ETA: the popping and crackling sounds all day long the past few days don't bother me. It's the M-80's, and the flying ones whistling over my house at midnight that bother me. We are being responsible, I don't want my home damaged or my kids injured because someone else feels above the law.