911, ya, these fireworks are too loud!Follow

Driving home today there was local news story on the radio about how the local emergency lines had been completely filled by noise complaints during this 4th of July holiday.

Apparently people were calling 911 to report private fireworks as excessive noise. This 4th was the first time after they legalized many fireworks. Prior to this most fireworks that left the ground or exploded were banned from use. There was a lot more private use than in previous years. They had a police officer talking who said that 1). they shouldn't be using the emergency lines to report noise complaints and 2.) local rules prohibit officers from enforcing noise ordinances on and around certain holidays like the 4th.

I didn't realize that second bit. Kind of makes sense, but I can see where people would still want to enjoy some peace during the holiday (like me, who had to work on the 5th).

Edited, Jul 12th 2012 6:16pm by TirithRR

Yes, but apparently you have to do something fairly flagrant to actually be penalized.

Or the rednecks that use firworks to light off other fireworks that set off dominos that move other crap around until the final firework that is connected to a string tied around the trigger of a shotgun aimed at a watermelon...

I think I just had an idea of what I am doing this weekend

We just filled an old computer with fireworks, tied the fuses together and lit that. As children. This was a long time ago.

In Germany, fireworks only become legal to sell 2 working days before New Year's Eve and are illegal to use after NYD without a license.

I used to date someone who actually spent about $200 (or like a third of his paycheck) on fireworks one year.

And then we were told to stop at 00:30 because the lady across the street had to go to chemotherapy in the morning...

The legality of fireworks is very strange in my area. Let me preface by saying I live in Louisiana, and when I say PArish, I mean what anybody else would call a county. So in Jefferson Parish, where I live, fireworks are only legal in the 5 incorporated cities within the parish and illegal in any unincorporated area of the parish. I live in one of the unincorporated areas.

In the past, fireworks haven't bothered me and I've even driven a couple miles into one of the cities and bought some of my own. This year, however, some neighbors decided they were going to set off the loudest fireworks they could find about 20 feet from my door. Normally this would bother me since I can sleep through a nuclear explosion. However, I had my 3 year old son July 4th night, and I was worried the fireworks would keep him awake.

Thankfully they didn't, but I was ready to call the cops if they had. Man, when did becoming a parent turn me into an old fuddy duddy?

Conception

Probably because many people don't realize that there's a non-emergency way to contact the police. I'm not excusing their ignorance, but I'd wager that a significant percentage of the population doesn't know how to contact them aside from 911. Perhaps stiffer penalties would counteract this and raise awareness, but I doubt it.