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Terabith
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I know it's a tradition, but I really, really, really wish people would stop.  It's bad enough on the Fourth.  My oldest child is in the basement crying, and I'm praying Obama comes home tomorrow, because I couldn't get him in before dark.  But people have set them off every night since the end of May, and they terrify my kid and my cats.  They make the house shake.  They're illegal in our state, but of course that doesn't stop people.  
 

And I get it.  Especially this year, with all the public displays canceled, people want to celebrate.  But they're so triggering to so many people and animals.  I just don't understand why it has to be a constant thing all summer long.  

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I'm with you. I think setting them off outside of a few hours on the night of the 4th is really obnoxious. We don't do them and I don't think I've ever been in a fireworks store but in my imagination people go in to get some for the 4th and go nuts and overbuy and then we are stuck listening to it for a month. They started really early today and I figured that was a bad sign that people had large stocks to go through.

 

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When it was just on the 4th, it was manageable. Even fun.  (But we have no people who are negatively affected by it. Our dog was though.)  It has been constant  all spring and summer though, and tonight is terrible. One of my kids told me that some law about fireworks changed so there is legal access to more/bigger/louder or something like that.  There do seem to be more tonight than usual.

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In our state they can shoot them off until midnight, and it’s felt like a war zone for the past two hours. They’re constant and coming from many, many places.  It definitely wasn’t like this last year in our area- I think it’s because local fireworks displays have been cancelled.  I’m ready for them to be over and feel so bad for people with frightened children, scared dogs, and vets with ptsd. 

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1 minute ago, rebcoola said:

I love fireworks but hate the never ending of it.  Ours only started on 1 at when the stands opened but it will last who knows how long.   People can prepare for a night not weeks.

Exactly.  If it was just say, the Fourth and New Year's Eve, we could deal.  But the every night thing.....there's no way to prepare or to avoid.  It just feels so inconsiderate.  

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43 minutes ago, Terabith said:

I know it's a tradition, but I really, really, really wish people would stop.  It's bad enough on the Fourth.  My oldest child is in the basement crying, and I'm praying Obama comes home tomorrow, because I couldn't get him in before dark.  But people have set them off every night since the end of May, and they terrify my kid and my cats.  They make the house shake.  They're illegal in our state, but of course that doesn't stop people.  
 

And I get it.  Especially this year, with all the public displays canceled, people want to celebrate.  But they're so triggering to so many people and animals.  I just don't understand why it has to be a constant thing all summer long.  

It was really bad for me earlier this year - I was having panic attacks when the fireworks were going off and they were going off all the time. One night when it was really bad, I stayed up till 5:30 am, unable to sleep, and read about CBT for soldiers who have PTSD associated with fireworks. I was of course not such an extreme case, but have been able to train myself to no longer get upset when I hear fireworks. They keep me awake, LOL, because of the noise, but they no longer make me shake and cry.
 

Emily

ETA: We had looting in our neighborhood and that was the weekend our fireworks started, so I was associating them with a lot of bad stuff. Also, that weekend, one neighbor said their house had been hit by shrapnel so I was unable to figure out gun vs fireworks.

Edited by EmilyGF
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1 minute ago, EmilyGF said:

It was really bad for me earlier this year - I was having panic attacks when the fireworks were going off and they were going off all the time. One night when it was really bad, I stayed up till 5:30 am, unable to sleep, and read about CBT for soldiers who have PTSD associated with fireworks. I was of course not such an extreme case, but have been able to train myself to no longer get upset when I hear fireworks. They keep me awake, LOL, because of the noise, but they no longer make me shake and cry.
 

Emily

I'm so sorry.  That's horrible.  My oldest has a major sensory sound aversion thing to fireworks, thunder, wind, loud talking.  It is genuinely horrible.  I'm glad you've gotten some respite.  

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It hasn’t been too bad here tonight, not as many as normal.  I did prefer it when it was illegal in Michigan to shoot off anything much larger than a sparkler at home.

Edited by Mom2mthj
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I feel like I'm under attack. Technically they're not legal here, but it's a short drive to buy them, and with the big community ones cancelled, I guess it was something people could do. 

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We’ve been hearing them every night for soooo long.  Nightly since maybe May?  Tonight sounded like a war, it went on and on, from all sides.  
 

I have some anxiety about fireworks causing fires.  I witnessed a terrible fireworks accident at a professional show as a kid, and am always a little bit afraid about the potential consequences, though I do like to see them on the 4th.  You know, for 30 minutes tops!  Not the endless, ongoing show from all sides, like tonight.

I hope Obama is home!

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2 minutes ago, Spryte said:

I hope Obama is home!

He is not.  At this point, I'm guessing he won't come home till morning.  

Back, pre-fireworks, he would go out between 10-12 and come home around 7:30 am or so when we feed the cats.  I'm pretty sure the neighborhood cats have a time share thing with who is allowed to wander around when, because if you tried to send him outside at a time other than his usual time, he would look at you like you were crazy.  If you tossed him outside (with a blanket) anyway, because, say, he was being a jerk, he'd hide on the roof or under a car.  

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Your cat's probably hiding under a car *now*, if that's any consolation - and yes, time-sharing the territory is a known thing for urban cats.

With that said, fireworks are about the one thing short of murder I'll call the police over, and that's because the alternative IS murder in quite a messy and explosive way.

(Well... I'll also call the non-emergency number for the occasional noise complaint. Rarely, though - part of living in a neighborhood is accepting that you have neighbors.)

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9 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

Your cat's probably hiding under a car *now*, if that's any consolation - and yes, time-sharing the territory is a known thing for urban cats.

With that said, fireworks are about the one thing short of murder I'll call the police over, and that's because the alternative IS murder in quite a messy and explosive way.

(Well... I'll also call the non-emergency number for the occasional noise complaint. Rarely, though - part of living in a neighborhood is accepting that you have neighbors.)

Oh, I'm sure he's hiding somewhere.  Probably not under a car.  He has hidey holes in the sewer drains.  I suspect he's there.  

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There is something about watching a big professional fireworks show that makes me smile, but I completely get where multiple days/nights of it in your neighborhood are bad. And I feel for the animals. A few years ago, Dd#2's art teacher's dog got out on the 4th & she was hit by a car. Tonight, a neighbor's cat escaped while other neighbors on either side of us were having a competition about who could waste the most money in big fireworks. Ds#1 ran over & helped get it back inside. We've been keeping our indoor/outdoor cat in the last few days so he wouldn't freak & run at the daytime fireworks. 

I hope Obama comes home safe in the morning!

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I hate the 4th of July just because of my neighborhood. It goes on for days, but the 4th is down right scary. Most of our neighbors stay home to watch their houses.  It is absolutely obnoxious here. We are in the county and pretty much  anything is legal here. On top of that, one neighbor has a huge party, probably 100+ people and lets them off for hours. The show is maybe 300 yards (probably closer) from my house. I have had dents in the roof of my car, a burn mark on my garage door and one neighbor's house had a lit firework land on it, until we got a ladder and hose to put it out. Sooo many near misses with burn marks in blankets as people watch etc. They let off professional mortar style fireworks from 9-midnight, every year. They are delivered in A U-Haul trailer! They let off so  much, that people start wandering away before it is done. You have to scream to talk in our neighborhood for those 3 hours. Between them, and and the other neighbors letting them off, it is like being at a show that doesn't end, and you can't escape. It takes hours to clean the paper and debris from the streets and our lawn the next day when they are done. If we don't clean it up the stuff that falls in our yard and the street, it clogs the drains. I actually shop vac our front yard to pick it all up!!!! The canister will be full by the end. Last year, our next door neighbor (different neighbor) partied very, very loud until 3am. Again, we are county,  so no point calling the sheriff over noise, they are too far away and busy with more serious things. 

I HATE the 4th of July!!!!

Edited by Tap
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4 minutes ago, Plum said:

It's so annoying. The county made a website to file complaints because they were tired of 911 getting overloaded.  6,184 complaints have been filed since June 1 with 2,359 complaints alone from Friday, June 26 to midnight June 29. Firework stands were allowed to start selling legal fireworks on June 28. People got wind and started quietly setting one or two off in the middle of the night. Somebody set off 3 at 4am on Tuesday! The people are surprisingly quiet so you can't tell where it came from. 

Our dog is going to have a heart attack. He starts shaking. His favorite room is the loudest so he's in his bunker under my desk. He held out quite a bit longer than last year. We've been putting on thunderstorm sounds on the surround sound tv all year long. 
 

That is what I do when I am ready to go to sleep. I always play Netflix when I sleep (it helps my nightmares). On the 4th, I use my phone to play a show with noise cancelling head phones on. Then on my laptop, I put on a thunderstorm and rain as loud as it will go. Last year, the neighbor's were so loud after midnight, I went to sleep in my hallway. 😞 It was the only place with no outside walls for the sound to reverberate off of. I could still hear their music and random left over fireworks. Have I said how much I hate the 4th!

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5 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

It’s illegal here. Police had said they will only respond if the address of the offender is given, or if there is a fire.

Here, even if they get a ticket, it is only a city hall fine (not through the courts). Less than a parking ticket. If they don't pay it, there is no consequence.

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I can smell fireworks smell currently so should be nearby enough for the wind to blow the smell over. There are a few fires currently 

Contra Costa County https://mobile.twitter.com/ContraCostaFire/status/1279642213425635328

 “Con Fire is currently on scene 12 grass, vegetation and structure fires across the District. In the 9 pm hour we have responded to more than 50 fires. Due to the overwhelming volume of fires we are reducing responses to all but structure fires. #confiresafe4th

10:04 PM · Jul 4, 2020“

San Jose https://mobile.twitter.com/SJFD/status/1279655159623081984

“San Jose Fire currently has 20 active events, including multiple vegetation and structure fires”

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It's nuts here this year.  It's legal and their is usually quite a bit but with the big shows cancelled their are way more.  Way more big Aerials that I know must have come from the reservation.  I'm a little surprised just because the fines here are huge $1,000 minimum.

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Fireworks are legal to buy here, but most of our area doesn’t “allow” setting them off. They’re still set off almost every weekend night and some weekday nights through the whole summer.  Last night was definitely more than the average 4th of July. This was the first year that my 14yo cat seemed extremely agitated by them.

I do find all the noise annoying, and hate when a big one goes off really close and scares the bejezus out of me, but I get MAD because we live in the middle of the flipping woods! We’re tucked into thousands of acres of forest. It is absolutely possible for this whole place to go up. With 3 firefighters at home, yes, I do get angry that they could need to put themselves in harms way for “fun”.  Or have to help people with parts burned off get on a helicopter. Or force an evacuation with the added burden of tons of vacationers who don’t know the area, let alone evac routes.
There’s more than enough tragedy to go around without people playing with explosives.

Fortunately, there were no major incidents in our immediate area last night. Everyone was lucky.

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They've only been legal here for the past few years.   We still had a few set off when they were illegal, but our population density is so high, it was really limited.  Now, it's a mess.   Someone in our small neighborhood was setting them off starting at around 1 in the afternoon.  You couldn't even see much but they were extremely loud.  Our dog was very upset for over 12 hours yesterday, even with multiple Benedryl.  

We haven't even bothered to go watch professional shows for the past few years.   We're not that into it and are definitely not into big crowds. 

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At one time I lived in CA, in the foothills near San Jose.  Up a hill from our house there was a road that people would park on to watch the fireworks; there was a great view of the valley below. One July 4, I woke up in the night to a weird sound. The hillside above our house was on fire. While I called 911, my dad started hosing down our wood house. The flames didn't really get too close, and the fire crew arrived quickly. but it was so scary.  I couldn't believe people were setting off fireworks on a roadside next to a hill covered in dry grass.  

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10 hours ago, Tap said:

I hate the 4th of July just because of my neighborhood. It goes on for days, but the 4th is down right scary. Most of our neighbors stay home to watch their houses.  It is absolutely obnoxious here. We are in the county and pretty much  anything is legal here. On top of that, one neighbor has a huge party, probably 100+ people and lets them off for hours. The show is maybe 300 yards (probably closer) from my house. I have had dents in the roof of my car, a burn mark on my garage door and one neighbor's house had a lit firework land on it, until we got a ladder and hose to put it out. Sooo many near misses with burn marks in blankets as people watch etc. They let off professional mortar style fireworks from 9-midnight, every year. They are delivered in A U-Haul trailer! They let off so  much, that people start wandering away before it is done. You have to scream to talk in our neighborhood for those 3 hours. Between them, and and the other neighbors letting them off, it is like being at a show that doesn't end, and you can't escape. It takes hours to clean the paper and debris from the streets and our lawn the next day when they are done. If we don't clean it up the stuff that falls in our yard and the street, it clogs the drains. I actually shop vac our front yard to pick it all up!!!! The canister will be full by the end. Last year, our next door neighbor (different neighbor) partied very, very loud until 3am. Again, we are county,  so no point calling the sheriff over noise, they are too far away and busy with more serious things. 

I HATE the 4th of July!!!!

Wow, that is the worst.

I hate fireworks because of  our neighbors too.  We had an awful time last night.   I can't believe how stupid people are.  I hate 4th of July too.  I always want to be miles from people that weekend. 

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I’m sorry that it is so difficult for some of you- I know it’s nerve wracking to have people so affected in your household. I have PTSD but am desensitized to fireworks - I don’t like the unexpectedness of them but if I’m outside watching I’m mostly fine. I’m on alert, but not triggered and not panicking. I hope that for those severely affected that you can find ways to help de-sensitize yourself.  It’s worth the effort to work on those things - at least it was for me.   The fireworks will continue to happen-the huge upside is that we know when it will happen. 
 

A neighbor, a veteran who saw combat, has PTSD as well.  He said he enjoyed the prolific fireworks last night even though he struggled all day knowing they were coming.... Seeing them actually helped his processing vs hiding inside getting angry and anxious.

We are in a densely populated environment and walked 1/4 mile to our huge park and watched 20+ displays in 360 for an hour last night.  In CO anything in the sky is illegal- and it was all illegal.  The police were told to see and hear nothing (so said a neighbor on Nextdoor). Despite my past issues, I really enjoyed it last night.  The most organic and amazing fireworks I’ve ever seen.  

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Guys, guys, I just read the most wonderful news.

Apparently, American fireworks are largely made in China. China usually ups its production of fireworks in winter, presumably to catch the New Year through Chinese New Year rush, but this year they didn't, and they haven't really ramped up production yet at all.

Yes, you heard me: WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF FIREWORKS.

Go, hoard a bunch, run down that supply as fast as you can. You don't have to blow them up, you can just shove them in a storage shed. (Don't dump them, they're full of lead.)

I actually don't know a safe way to dispose of fireworks. Hm.

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Our neighborhood had a huge amount of fireworks last night.  A lot of them donated money to certain families to set them off.  We didn't have our usual city fireworks display this year, so our neighborhood worked together.  They practiced social distancing for the most part by staying in their own yards/roofs.  We ended up buying much more than usual, but it was a combination of our kids are older and won't be home many more 4ths and the lack of much to look forward to lately with everything getting cancelled this summer.  It was something finally that we could do and enjoy in relative safety.

I would be annoyed if they weren't following the law about when they can be set off (days and hours) but for the most part people here have been very good about it.  Our dog didn't really like the loud noises, but we traded out family members to stay with him and he did fine with that.  I am glad though that today is the last day for them to be set off until New Year's eve.

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Our public fireworks show was canceled. The police department posted on FB about the cancellation and actually encouraged people to have their own celebrations even though it is illegal. Nice.

The fireworks superstore across the city line into the county where there are legal apparently was completely wiped out. I saw pictures of just completely empty shelves by yesterday afternoon. So, yes, people did make up for the lack of public display. 

I actually was pretty heartened that as crazy as it was for a few hours last night it settled down and there was only an occasional pop through the night and I haven't heard any today. I'm sure we'll get some leftovers tonight but I was glad they didn't go all night last night. We have a new pup and thankfully she wasn't spooked. 

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I have come to absolutely hate the 4th of July! It doesn’t even get dark here until 10pm so they start around 9:30 and go till after midnight. And it’s just days and days of it. I could handle it better if it was just on the 4th but allowing it for so long is just too much.

Someone local is planning a big display for tonight right by us since they canceled the city run one. I’m so over it!

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It rains like a hundred days a year here, and I was hoping it would last night, but no such luck. They continued long after we wanted to be asleep.

Oh, let's celebrate everything with explosives from China! They sound like gunshots and rain fiery embers of assorted chemicals down from the sky! How is this a thing? And at a time of year when it's not dark until it's time for kids to go to bed?

I hope everybody used them all up.

 

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