# Illegal fireworks ruining 4th of July **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 29, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473 "2017-04-29T03:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473/81 "2018-06-14T05:29:02Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Isn’t Chinese New Year in January? It moves, because it’s calculated by the phase of the moon. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473/82 "2018-06-14T15:16:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Sorry, **viva** , but your OP has a bit too much of a “get off my lawn” feel to it. It’s one night, and you can plan for it. Get outta town if you must, but sometimes the best thing to do is go with the flow and don’t fight it if you know you can’t win. It is not one night. my neighbors celebrate for several weeks every possible holiday with fireworks. It leaves litter and ash all over my property, scares pets and is annoying to here the noise every night until late at night for several weeks. We celebrate New yeas , Chinese New Years, Memorial day July 4th, Labor Day and sometimes just because. It is illegal in this county to sell or set off more than a small firecracker or sparkler. There is of course no enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473/83 "2018-06-15T04:28:30Z")
I brought up this topic on Nextdoor (neighborhood social media) and there were many relevant replies, including this one: “Last year I sat down with Lieutenant \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ for an hour. I told him about the trauma and health problems the fireworks cause at my house and others and offered several suggestions including an education campaign, a reward for turning people in (and how to fund it), a constituent-led Public Safety advisory board, and other ideas. He was nice, polite, empathetic and encouraging. He then walked me out, went back to his office and proceeded to do nothing. So I guess I am out of ideas.” * * * Well, so am I. As for getting off my lawn, I am not that concerned about it except that said lawn (and other lawns) could go up in smoke along with the rest of the properties one of these days. That there is a very high fire danger in So Cal only adds to the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473/84 "2018-06-15T04:44:37Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I brought up this topic on Nextdoor (neighborhood social media) and there were many relevant replies, including this one: > > “Last year I sat down with Lieutenant \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ for an hour. I told him about the trauma and health problems the fireworks cause at my house and others and offered several suggestions including an education campaign, a reward for turning people in (and how to fund it), a constituent-led Public Safety advisory board, and other ideas. He was nice, polite, empathetic and encouraging. He then walked me out, went back to his office and proceeded to do nothing. So I guess I am out of ideas.” > > * * * > > Well, so am I. As for getting off my lawn, I am not that concerned about it except that said lawn (and other lawns) could go up in smoke along with the rest of the properties one of these days. That there is a very high fire danger in So Cal only adds to the problem. If your city is like mine, that Lieutenant cannot authorize any of those things. He may have forwarded it upstairs where it sat, or he may have sat on it himself. I say go political. Have the same talk (or write it down to save time) with your city councilor or county supervisor, and then the mayor or the head of the county (whatever that’s called - not sure if you’re rural or urban). Get up a protest group on Nextdoor (I think they allow that) in the widest group of neighborhoods you can reach. Organize vote campaigns. If you get a lot of support then you’ll probably win at least some of that stuff. If you don’t, you’ve got good experience and contacts for the next issue that bothers you or to try this one again later. I live in SF, and I heard on the news a few days ago about a big fireworks bust somewhere close enough to drive to, and I’ve been hoping that it might make a difference this year. That was at least partially confirmed when the Warriors won the championship, which usually calls for major noisemakers all around. All I heard this time was two or three feeble “thweeps” on the next street. So here’s hoping that if we can’t have local enforcement (we’ve been told that manpower is too short and there are too many calls) do anything, at least the surrounding areas might. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473/85 "2018-06-15T04:52:26Z")
About 10 years ago, some friends and I spent New Year’s Eve in Iceland. The fireworks set off everywhere went on for something like 7 hours. But everyone was expecting it, so it was pretty much ok. The thing that impressed and amused us was the stands that sold fireworks were run by emergency services and the money raised went to fund the ambulances and fire department. It was also impressive that every single kid we saw with any kind of fireworks or sparklers was wearing goggles. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473/86 "2018-06-15T10:00:19Z")
Print up a bunch of very official looking posters, use a police insignia. “ Attention this neighbourhood contains many veterans who will be traumatized by fireworks… We will have zero tolerance for explosions. We have an arrangement with the police department to heavily patrol these street, charge all offenders, cameras have been installed to insure convictions. Please consider taking your fireworks to another location to avoid heavy penalties. Your cooperation is appreciated. “ or something similar! It won’t cost more than some paper and the time to post a few signs. If it drives the worst offenders off it’d be worth it though! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-fireworks-ruining-4th-of-july/785473.md?page=4)