Some folks have been shooting off fireworks around here for the past week or so but tonight was literally the worst I’ve ever heard (and felt). It really did sound like a war zone for a couple hours. The neighbors two doors down had the BOOM things along with the regular fireworks and my windows were shaking. Their stuff sounded like it was in my living room. My cats, who normally don’t react, curled up on the bed together. If finally quieted down around 12:30.
Still a virtual war zone after midnight in my normally very quiet neighborhood. We usually get a small amount of low-key fireworks, not Little Beirut. Oddly, it isn’t bothering me yet. People are blowing off steam. My cat’s not too bothered.
Good morning everyone. A few morons started up last night with the mortar shell versions. After the second time debris fell through my trees and hit my roof I did the IRL version of a banhammer.
It’s a $2000 fine to be in possession of fireworks in my little burg, not just setting them off. And unlike the major cities, police do keep order here. So I made some calls, the shitheads got to meet some officials, and I got a good night’s sleep.
No snark here, genuinely sorry the rest of you had to listen to that crap. Hope it dies down quickly.
Oddly enough, here in rural SC (where it seems like every other corner has a fireworks stand) I barely heard anything. A few distant pops and thumps, but that’s it.
We live now in a very horse-centric area though, and that’s probably why this is so quiet compared to where I used to live. As a rule horses are not fond of fireworks. You know how your dog tries to crawl into your lap, or hides behind the toilet, or tries to crawl under a couch? Picture that reaction in a 1,200 lb animal that can run at upwards of 25 mph. Not pretty.
Whatever the reason, it was a blessedly quiet night!
Yup, here near Erie PA. Started about two weeks ago every night between 9:00 pm and 2:00 am it doesn’t stop. Last night was the worst, heavy duty stuff. I don’t know what to make of it.
We had quite the (mostly distant) show last night, along with our neighbors blasting heavy duty ordnance. Surprisingly, Pluto the field spaniel was intrigued rather than alarmed, and the barn swallow stayed on her nest in the porch eaves through all the explosions. Those are tough little birds (I saw a few yesterday driving off a large hawk).
One of the Mumpers referred to their locality sounding like “downtown Baghdad during Shock & Awe” and that was indeed what western Michigan sounded like last night, esp. near the lakeshore of course. They’re legal for the holiday week until 11:45 p.m. and folks took full advantage to blow off steam and blow shit up.
Last few nights, I’ve heard them intermittently all night (including an amusing burst right at 4:20 a.m. from some insomniac stoners) but July 4th everything went pretty much silent at 11:46 p.m. so I can only conclude the cops were patrolling and enforcing.
I’m curious how many people will find a forgotten stash and if there will be any encore performances tonight. I also wonder how many blown-off fingers presented at various E.R. doors around the nation!
last night the fireworks in my neighborhood were constant from about half and hour before sunset until about 200am. There were quite a few that were stick of TNT loud. From the police scanner facebook page there were many injuries. Two people lost hands (one left and one right) one of which was a 54 year old man who is definitely old enough to know better trying to light and throw an aerial artillery by hand [f.gump]stupid is as stupid does[/f.gump]
The saddest was a twelve year old boy who lost his left foot. Those parents need to be arrested for child neglect.
I may have mentioned this before: I love America and I treasure our hard won freedom but Independence day is my least favorite holiday. I hate, I Hate, I HATE fireworks.
I was pleasantly surprised last night here in rural western Oregon.
There were a few half-hearted boomies around 9:15 p.m. My little dog worry-woofed a few times but that’s all. Then it was over.
I waited for the Grand Finale to start up around midnight, but it never came.
We heard plenty last night in our NE Ohio neighborhood until past 1am. A friend of ours a few blocks away actually had her home smoke alarm go off due to gunpowder fumes drifting in from outside!
Let’s see:
Sporadic minor league type pops and cracks from late afternoon till sundown. This was interrupted for about 45 minutes due to a freak pop-up thunderstorm ( nothing was even remotely forecast ) that thankfully 1) rained on their powder 2) wet the parched grass and vegetation, lessening the fire hazard 3) dropped the temperature down from 93 to 68 within a matter of a few minutes 4) the stifling steamy air was whooshed aside by the strong cool breezes that brought the T-storm. Muted whoops of joy from me on all counts.
From sundown ( ostensibly to conceal the people setting them off better, if not the flashes ) to about 11 PM there was absolutely positively not more than 3 or 4 seconds of silence the whole time as a barrage of all manner of fireworks made everything from pops, screeches, crackles and BOOMS. I do mean BOOMS; shake the house stuff. I couldn’t imagine the sheer amount of stuff that was required to make constant noise for 2 and one half hours unabated. While annoying the absolute hell out of me, it must have given every pet in the neighborhood PTSD. I felt bad for them.
These weren’t people blowing off steam ( most in my area ignored the “stay at home” ordinance ), these were just idiots who liked acting out. All I have to say, as a final thought is that it’s pretty damned obvious what these meatheads spent their $1200.00 stimulus money on.
Like others here, my neighborhood sounded (& smelled) like a war zone until after midnight. My outdoor cats ran into to deepest reaches of my closets & didn’t want out until after 4am. When I walked this morning fireworks debris was all over the place.
We had so many fires last night that the county issued a statement that fire departments would only be responding to structure fires. 50 plus fires in one hour. Outside agencies were able to send additional resources, so I think things are under control.
The fireworks were amazing. Professional quality in some cases, and I think almost everyone had them. We stood in the front yard and could see them in all directions.
I really hope people knock it off tonight. My dog hates them, but she doesn’t hide. She wants to go looking for the source and destroy it.
That is exactly what my wife said about 130 this morning
I was at a very small get together yesterday evening and I left it a little after 10pm from a suburb that borders Chicago to the North. We’d been watching the local neighborhood stuff for the previous 90 minutes or so. While driving back a few miles on the Edens, there were huge fireworks on either side of the road and the entire route was hazed in from smoke. On higher ground, they were as far as the eye could see. When I got back to my neighborhood, there were tons of people out, hundreds at the city park a block away. They went hard until at least 11:30 and there were still stragglers until at least 1:30 when I went to bed.
I mowed the grass today and was surprised to not find much debris at all.
There were presumably enough fireworks shot off in my area to alter the air quality, as in worsen it to alert status. All those bonfires probably didn’t help matters.
Fireworks every hour on the hour from sundown on the 4th until 3 AM on the 5th. Then someone started up again at 5 AM (or - maybe I just managed to sleep through the 4 AM call).
They’re illlegal to possess, sell or use in Connecticut, but BJ’s and WalMart had big stacks on display, and there are independent sellers who set up tents in car parks. 
Throughout the night of the fourth I could see about a dozen different displays including ours. I didn’t walk around to the other side of the house. Typically on the fourth there are about 6-8 I can see while we launch ours. Most are quite distant and we only hear the rumble. Several closer ones this year in locations that we’ve not seen before like the next door neighbors and up the road across the cornfield.
Spoke with a neighbor that lives about 2 miles away on the other side of a decent hill and he said it was a continuous thunder from all directions. I know of several people on his side of the hill that always do really expansive long displays for extended families and employees.
My sons will reload their supplies over the next few weeks so they can light up their sister’s (our baby) graduation party bonfire at the end of the month.
They seem to be finally tapering off at night here. Haven’t heard any in the past few nights.