Thursday, July 06, 2006

Fireworks Recap

I returned home on Tuesday night to be included in an Eckington tradition; deuling fireworks. I loved it! The people up the street had an amazing show that last nearly 90 minutes. Other corners "dueled" with them, but the U St Crew clearly won the contest. There were residual pops going on throughout the evening that kept waking me up, but for one night I was willing to turn a blind eye.

A neighbor approached me this evening, and was very upset about the celebratory displays. She will be looking into the legal code regulating fireworks. Listserv discussions showed both sides of the argument, a cop stating it is nearly impossible to deal with all of the fireworks, and revealed that 911 was innundated with calls throughout the evening. There were even reports of cops on the Key bridge "throwing in the towel" and calling out, "get some good photos".

Does the fourth of July merit a ton of fireworks displays in neighborhoods, or should the mall be the only place to view a sky filled with polychromatic explosions? Is one night of "fun" acceptable, or a lapse of order? Would our opinions change if one of our houses caught fire?

6 comments:

Mari said...

Call the cops and DCFD for fire, otherwise there is little to be done, 'cept for what happens outside your own door.
A co-worker who lives in one of those naziseque HOAs complained about the fireworks going off in his neighborhood. Nothing came of it. They'll send you a nastygram if your grass is 1/4 of an inch too high but will ignore the illeagal fireworks. If an evil HOA won't do anything, then it is hopeless.

Anonymous said...

At the least, I would be happy if people would stop setting off fireworks at around 11 so everybody could go to sleep. The noise kept me awake until after 2:00 am on the 4th, and I was so exhausted at work the next day.

Anonymous said...

As a new resident, I was a little alarmed by the feeling that I was living in a war zone and the fire falling from the sky. However, it was also nice to see families outside celebrating as a community. I have no doubt it's illegal and dangerous, but fireworks were/are the least of my worries!

Anonymous said...

If you think the fireworks make you feel like you live in a warzone. Wait until you see the drive bys. You'll think you are in Mozul.

PalacePool said...

I spent all of 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. Last year was my first 4th back in the States. It was a bit freaky, especially when i couldnt see the explosions. Having them close was much better for me.

there was a lot of neighborhood pride in the display, but an earlier cut off would have been appreciated.

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