What is with the jerks setting off fireworks?

Once again the dog is cowering under the bed because some selfish a--hole needs to set off fireworks.  Is there something to celebrate?  

Don't they think about veterans with PTSD?  People with sleeping children?  

Its also frustrating because we don't know the source and can do nothing to stop it.  If we could identify these self-involved jerks I could try to talk some sense into them (if that is possible).


some of them are legal and there is nothing you can do unless it goes on very late


Are the legal ones very loud? I thought they were just colorful.


Who is setting off legal fireworks tonight and why?


EBennett said:

Don't they think about veterans with PTSD?

Or how about anyone afflicted with PTSD and not just the veterans (which account for only 11% of people diagnosed)?

Sexual relationship violence – 33%
Interpersonal/network traumatic experiences – 30%
Interpersonal violence – 12%
Other life threatening traumatic events – 12%
Participation in organized violence – 11%
Exposure to organized violence – 3%

As someone who suffers from PTSD, it would be great if we could stop pretending this only affects people who have put themselves in war zones. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


jimbobprice said:

Or how about anyone afflicted with PTSD and not just the veterans (which account for only 11% of people diagnosed)?

Sexual relationship violence – 33%
Interpersonal/network traumatic experiences – 30%
Interpersonal violence – 12%
Other life threatening traumatic events – 12%
Participation in organized violence – 11%
Exposure to organized violence – 3%

As someone who suffers from PTSD, it would be great if we could stop pretending this only affects people who have put themselves in war zones. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 The sounds of fireworks can trigger PTSD from people who've been involved in war or military battles. I have a family member who says fireworks shows take him back to skirmishes he's been in, wont even watch them on TV. I dont think anyone is pretending it only happens to vets but acknowledging it is particularly troubling for them. 


They sound like "street" fireworks to me, not authorized fireworks shows. Firecrackers mostly.  Don't think that's legal.  It's been going on for a while.  Where are the cops?  I'm not sure exactly where they are coming from.  


bub said:

They sound like "street" fireworks to me, not authorized fireworks shows. Firecrackers mostly.  Don't think that's legal.  It's been going on for a while.  Where are the cops?  I'm not sure exactly where they are coming from.  

I believe you're correct. All kinds of fireworks can be purchased legally an hour's drive away un Pennsylvania. There are big warehouses as soon as you cross into Easton.

I think people are bored and the police are wary of getting into confrontations right now. There's the current tension between communities of color and police departments, as well as the desire to limit exposure because of COVID-19 risk. My guess is they're not going all-out enforcing these violations. 

Plus they can be hard to actually enforce unless witnesses want to identify the users. I could set off a string of rockets down the block and be gone by the time any police arrived.


Don't fireworks start going off a few weeks before the fourth every year?


Kids, including me, had tons of fireworks where I grew up in NYC but I never noticed personal, illegal fireworks being a big thing around here.  The NY cops enforced by seizing the fireworks (and undoubtedly giving them to their own kids) but it barely put a dent in the block to block fireworks barrage that occurred on July 4.  But it's not July 4.  Not sure who/why is shooting them off every night this early. 


Fireworks are like cocaine. When you have them, you can't resist using them. 


I was explaining to my young adult son what a "matt" of firecrackers was.  Firecracker came packaged in a block more or less the size of a big book. Most of the time you took it apart to shoot them off one at a time or in the smaller sub-packages of 10 or twenty.  But if you wanted to be a big shot, you lit and threw the whole matt into a metal garbage can to get a prolonged machine gun effect.

Personally, I liked the colorful stuff but a lot of boys liked the boom boom stuff.  There were some big, dangerous boom boom things, which I really disliked.  Kids liked to talk about how much of a fraction of a stick of dynamite a a particular item was.  Was never sure whether that was hype or real.   

It's better to have high quality professional legal fireworks shows.  Or maybe that's just the old me talking.



I'm in South Orange and I'm hearing them every bloody night. It terrifies birds, wildlife, pets and many people.  Hate them.  And in a few weeks in my Upper Wyoming world they will be set off apparently not that far from me.  Rescues are still picking up kittens all over NJ, Squirrels and birds in nests. 

Yet another obnoxious tradition that should end. OK maybe this rant should end too.


bub said:

It's better to have high quality professional legal fireworks shows.  Or maybe that's just the old me talking.

 The old you is smart. Fireworks are dangerous and shouldn't be allowed in consumer hands. It's stupid macho bs that injures thousands of people every year.


When I was younger, in my early 20s, I think, I really loved bottle rockets. We'd get high late at night and take a few dozen into the street and shoot them at each other with a beer bottle. Man, that was fun. 


Oddly, this isn't a local phenomenon. I've seen people on Twitter randomly talking about the 'fireworks' every night and they were in Los Angeles. Doing some searches I've seen people talking about it from all over. Must be some pent-up boredom from being home most of the time and doing the same thing for three months.


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

When I was younger, in my early 20s, I think, I really loved bottle rockets. We'd get high late at night and take a few dozen into the street and shoot them at each other with a beer bottle. Man, that was fun. 

In my teens, we had the great idea of lighting an entire brick of fireworks in the middle of a 4-way intersection, right under the traffic light. Somehow, we were also dumb enough to stick around and one of us got arrested. (not me, of course)


mrincredible said:

bub said:

They sound like "street" fireworks to me, not authorized fireworks shows. Firecrackers mostly.  Don't think that's legal.  It's been going on for a while.  Where are the cops?  I'm not sure exactly where they are coming from.  

I believe you're correct. All kinds of fireworks can be purchased legally an hour's drive away un Pennsylvania. There are big warehouses as soon as you cross into Easton.

 You might not be able to get the big ones here, but some fireworks are now legal in NJ.  We’ve bought them at our local Shoprite.  Of course my property also backs up to a private hunting preserve so in addition to hearing fireworks we also hear shot guns on occasion.




The grown up me can't argue in favor of personal fireworks, and I (and my dog) are annoyed by this every night thing lately.  But like the Soulful Mr. T, I also remember bottle rocket wars up and down the street.  We'd lay them down on the ground and shoot them horizontally.


bub said:

The grown up me can't argue in favor of personal fireworks, and I (and my dog) are annoyed by this every night thing lately.  But like the Soulful Mr. T, I also remember bottle rocket wars up and down the street.  We'd lay them down on the ground and shoot them horizontally.

 We'd hold the bottle, light the rocket and aim it at the other guys. Did we get burned? Yes, but we were pretty loaded.


I thought the ones I've been hearing at night sounded more like professional fireworks - louder, deeper sounds than just firecrackers.  They also seem to have a set time frame.  I too wish they would just stop.

Wonder if we could find their location by triangulation, if a bunch of us compared notes on where we're hearing them?


I'm hearing firecrackers mostly.  Doesn't sound professional to me.  Sporadic pops.  There must be different things going on in different places.  


mulemom said:

I thought the ones I've been hearing at night sounded more like professional fireworks - louder, deeper sounds than just firecrackers. 

Me, too. 

(Hard for me to contribute to the triangulation; they sound like they’re coming from the east, but that’s probably because I sit by an open east-facing window at night.)


Could be.  I've been hearing what sounds like professional fireworks, coming from a generally easterly direction and far enough off that I can't see them.  They go off between 9:15 and 9:45pm, have been hearing them every night for at least a week.


I just read that people are complaining about this all over the northeast.  


bub said:

I just read that people are complaining about this all over the northeast.  

 I think this happens every year. Folks get fireworks for July 4th and just can't wait. Or maybe even more this year given isolation, etc. 


jimbobprice said:

EBennett said:

Don't they think about veterans with PTSD?

Or how about anyone afflicted with PTSD and not just the veterans (which account for only 11% of people diagnosed)?

Sexual relationship violence – 33%
Interpersonal/network traumatic experiences – 30%
Interpersonal violence – 12%
Other life threatening traumatic events – 12%
Participation in organized violence – 11%
Exposure to organized violence – 3%

As someone who suffers from PTSD, it would be great if we could stop pretending this only affects people who have put themselves in war zones. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 veteran PTSD is often related to the sound of gun shots, which is similar to fireworks, for non veterans, it depends on their trauma if fireworks affect them or not.


I heard on the news this morning that people in NYC have been complaining for months about fireworks going off every night.  If true, this is a far from local problem.  It has also been going on for too long to be linked to an early July 4th celebration.


There are far more this year than ever before.  I’m told you can buy them anywhere.  I’m sure it’s a “thing” that some age group has fallen in love with, like video games.  Argh!!!


I just heard tonight's opening salvo.


In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.