People who complain about fireworks

[Arclight]

Does anyone else use a neighborhood news site and notice a lot of complaining about fireworks? Am I the only one whose dogs could care less about someone shooting off a roman candle or a mortar somewhere? I think there are inconsiderate people in my town, but the "Carebears" are carebearing pretty hard here:


I don't think it is fair that I have to give my dog anxiety medicine for the stupidity that is going on. See something - report it. And no it is certainly not fair for people who have fought for us to be free and have PTSD. They don't need it. Don't we have enough to be stressed about right now? COVID-19, Riots, Looting....etc.


I remember as a very young child my parents would light a sparkler and want me to hold it. All the while little pieces of the hit sparkler was hitting my arm. Fireworks are scary, and unhealthy for ALL living things.

Thanks so much for posting this. Our poor dogs, they"re unconsolable. Can you imagine what it must sound like to those amazing ears? And to all of those with helpful suggestions, we've tried them all..thunder jacket, loud TV, etc. There is NO JOY in the illegal fireworks, booming bomb sounds, etc. Not to mention the veterans w/PTSD. Unfortunately, the inconsiderate people setting them off, probably dont care enough to even read a neighborhood post. At least I know there are others who feel as strongly about it, as I do.


Illegal fireworks. For those who think that illegal fireworks are no big deal: please read this article and please consider that the legal firework shows are are terrifying enough to many animals (& some people too). The loud booms are not masked by the legal show(s), but rather cause a sensation of being surrounded and sometimes they are closer than the legal show(s). This has become a real problem for many people with terrified loved ones!


Please have compassion for those who either do not understand or are suffering from ptsd.

Pretty please?


We need to go back to no fireworks. My pups shouldn't have to shake and hide for that matter we shouldn't have to hear it all until the wee hours of the morning speaking as one who has already lost their home in a fire we don't want to go through it again. They aren't even setting off legal fireworks instead it is the illegal ones they are setting off.

Pretty pretty (on my knees begging) please. No booms. My poor dog. It is horrible

[rfgonzo]

I just say, I'm sorry but i can hear you over the sound of my freedom.

[PyroKing31]

Good lord. I'm glad I live in a more rural area where its expected to hear regular gunfire on a sunny sunday afternoon. I tested some shells last week on saturday night, got a text from my neighbor. "those were nice, more? " about 15 minutes after I stopped.

I told him I am doing a bunch more on this saturday to test some new products. he replied "Great, I got the lawn chairs ready"

Sorry you are having crybabies, my dogs hate it. I put them in the basement for the 15 minutes it happens. Then they get love and they are fine.

[Icooclast]

i live in a small town. and generally the cops don't bother you if you're not being an idiot with fireworks and generally come around midnight and ask you to stop and start again tomorrow because they are getting too many complaints. of course you have your crotchity complainers. that's everywhere about everything. i'd bet that if you offered everyone in the country $100,000 you'd find a lot of people who have problems with it, even though we'd all be set. it's not "quit my job, live high on the hog money" but it is a nice safety net. and some would complain (most likely old people &/or republicans) but most would kill to have that safety net. some likely have.

point is (in modern terms) "haters gonna hate" as the rappers would say.

[joewad]

Just enough test to meet the minimum post requirement.....

4988

[minute_man777]

There's mainly only two days a year people in the US set off fireworks, these people need to let us have our fun on those 2 days. The whole world doesn't revolve around their dogs or PTSD. When I was growing up, I lived in two different apartment complexes where plenty of people would be lighting off fireworks a week before the 4th, no cops were involved, and no one complained. Would then get plenty of compliments from neighbors days after, the majority of people love fireworks.

[jsifue2]

We shoot our 4th of july show in a remote area away from any subdivisions, so noone really to complain.

There is a local online community page where people from both sides of the fence will argue back and forth about fireworks every year. I will "sample" items on the 3rd at my house, which is in a subdivision and I've never had any complaints.

[Birdman]

Our town has a lot of complainers on social media. It's the same complaints and concerns as mentioned above. They complain more about fireworks then they do about the gunshots/shootings that occur. I don't shot fireworks much at home any more, mostly because of the close proximity of homes. If I do it's usually nothing aerial. There's plenty of noises in my neighborhood that I have/had problems with but I understand that I choose to live in a urban neighborhood.

I understand that some pets and people are sensitive to fireworks but you can't really expect to have the whole neighborhood tip toe around because of it. I have a cat that hides whenever a loud vehicle drives by. I also have 2 family members with PTSD and one is triggered by the closing of multiple car doors (the sounds he would hear just before his base would get attacked). So should we ban cars too?

As my father would tell me....If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!

[displayfireworks1]

My local Facebook is starting to post fireworks complaints from dog owners. I checked with the next town Facebook and its the same. It is just that time of year I guess.

[wingman]

A few years ago (I think?), I posted a link to my town's newspaper opinion/poll questioning if fireworks should be banned. Thanks to y'all voting in favor of keeping them burning, the poll "blew up" and mysteriously vanished from the paper's website! A few complainers suggested a town hall meeting but when NOBODY showed up, staff nixed the argument and kept the pyro from being banned...that spoke volumes. Most of the complainers in this town are NIMBY out-of-state recent transplants from non-pyro friendly states. They need to shut up or move back to the state they came from if they want the same comfort level they forgot to appreciate, LOL!

[Robbro097]

I dont know of any1 who complains about fireworks. Ther was a Vietnam vet in my neighborhood years back who went by batman i talked to him at a bbq about it and he said he didn't like the noise but liked watching them so rather than complain he kept headphones/walkman on to just sorta drown out the sound he said it worked well for him so every year when this time rolled around you always seen him with his headphones on

[jdels]

I shoot across the street from my house and the homeowner takes care of the 'neighbor talk'. Last year a guy from five houses down stormed the property after the show was over screaming 'what in the F is going on here? I think the finale set him off. 98 shells, couple thousand missiles, a SHROOMS and several dominator slices and instant crackles. He calmed down but he was really pissed about his dog. Turns out he wasnt home the day me neighbor made the rounds. Communication is the key. But if you're legal and up front with the neighborhood then let em fly.

[Devo]

I try to avoid the screamers as that is what seems to scare the animals the most. But even here in Maryland my neighbors come out and watch. I can often here them a few house down..."Get out here...yeah he's gonna shoot off some fireworks again."
Thy can here the rattling of my fireworks carts as I wheel my mortar racks out.

[Mississippipyro]

My local Facebook is starting to post fireworks complaints from dog owners. I checked with the next town Facebook and its the same. It is just that time of year I guess.
In our area it?s the same, I made an effort to get key people in my HOA on board with our show. I have all of the board members openly supporting it so that shuts Dow that haters. Most complainers won?t hold up if they don?t have the majority. I also tell them I?m doing it either way. My long term fix will be the purchase of 30-40 acres in the next couple months. Yea I?m buy land just for pyro lol, it?s a sickness lol

[Birdman]

My long term fix will be the purchase of 30-40 acres in the next couple months. Yea I?m buy land just for pyro lol, it?s a sickness lol

The way PA laws are you will not find many properties in my town that have the distance from building etc to shot fireworks legally. However last summer someone bought an island on a river that runs through town. Rumor has it that they purchased it to shot fireworks. I haven't heard of any stories of them using it for anything yet. I've been trying to find people to purchase some land outside of town but so far no luck.

[FinnAmerican]

I had no problems from my neighbors on this Memorial Day weekend. And I was Rockin' the neighborhood block. There was a couple that watched for awhile and a small group that was in view of shooting in the backyard.
The oldest neighbor is 85 and he told me the next day that he was watching and that I ended early. I enjoy Fireworks but also respect others. I start at 8pm, when all the dogs are inside. Last year for Memorial Day weekend, I started a bit early at 12pm. A neighbor shouted from his yard "It's not the 4th of July!". Later he talked with me about starting later, as it was bothering his dog. He said he talked with the police about the hours that it was allowed. I paused until 6pm. And had no problems. I hope the 4th goes as smoothly. Fortunately, my backyard is adjacent to a schoolyard & park. I just shoot sky rockets over the fence, with no neighbors from behind.

[Salutecake]

So, In the small community that I live in, I'll guess 97% of the community plans parties around my fireworks (not meant to brag). But this has taken about 20 years or perhaps 30 years of 4th of July fireworks going off. Early on, I use to get several calls with dog complaints, and threats of calling the cops. I use to respond to the complaints, but that eventually stopped, and the police did not really bother anyone until after 11 at night. I don't know if the people gave up complaining or they started to live a little and joined in the fun. So now, I hear that many of the dog owners now just take their dogs for a ride (away from me, lol) during the fireworks, and then they also avoid giving their dogs drugs. I think that's a great idea, and I will also say great people who do that, instead of complaining they let the rest of the community enjoy the fireworks, and I fulfill my, well, what ever you want to call it.

[FinnAmerican]

I suggest to dog and other animal owners to turn the radio on to soft music. And if it's hot weather or not; turn the fan on. The vet used to tell my family to give 1/2 tablet Benadryl to our dogs in the case of Fireworks.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

As the expression goes... There's at least one ass--le in every neighborhood. If you don't know who it is in your neighborhood, it's probably you!

I know who they are in my neighborhood, and I couldn't care less what they think or want. If their pets can't stand 15 minutes of me celebrating what I spent 22 years of my life in uniform defending, then they need to move with their pets to Canada.

[joewad]

I've been patiently waiting for Rick's comments..........he did not disappoint

[joed2323]

Communication is the key. But if you're legal and up front with the neighborhood then let em fly.

Most neighbors are just sick of assholes who shoot fireworks randomly all night long till 2-3am with no rime or rhythm. These types of people who are not considerate of neighbors are the ones who give us pyros a bad name and it paints a bad picture of us.
No reason to randomly shoot a 2 or 3 canisters here and there spaced out 30 mins apart all night long.

9 times out of 10 if you are respectful and go talk to your neighbors and let them know I'm going to be shooting a show and its going to last (20mins for example) and then I'm done for the night!!
You generally will get way better results this way.

Granted not everyone shoots shows like that, some just want to celebrate and shoot a cpl cakes here or there.

[Birdman]

My neighborhood was pretty lit up last night. There were some houses lighting some small stuff early but then about 10 o'clock a house down the road started lighting some nice cakes and shells. I was happy to see someone lighting cakes for a change. Other's started to join in and you could hear random shells all around.

joed2323, Part of the problem here is that we can't legal light them off in our town because of the close proximity of houses and buildings. So people need to go rouge which means people pretty much have to light and lay low. The later it gets the less chance someone is going to be watching. If people could just shoot them legally in my hood I'm sure most would do it much earlier and less often because they would go through them faster. Instead you get people with a box of shells or something that are shooting a couple every weekend for weeks. I use to be one of those people but now I prefer to wait until I'm somewhere where I can shoot several without having to play the cat and mouse game.

[fireworkguy98]

All my neighbors loved my fireworks and after a few years even started to get in on the fun. All was good until about two years ago when one neighbor who lived where she does now before we even moved in decided to have issues with it. The police have came by and said they got reports of gunshots and asked us to stop lighting, every time we even light something safe and sane she’s outside glaring at us from her porch. Its crazy to me that she was fine with it and just randomly decided to have an issue. All the neighbors who've joined in on the fun have not taken kindly to her doing this. Ive heard that one neighbor even told her off about it. It stinks because you never want to purposefully make someone unhappy, especially because fireworks are something that are really for group enjoyment, but its not just her neighborhood and shes outnumbered on the issue. Luckily this year ive been invited to a different place for the fourth so no issues for me ;)

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I've been patiently waiting for Rick's comments..........he did not disappoint

I should probably be offended by that comment but I'm not. lol...

[Rocketshooter]

I have a neighbor who never said a word about my lighting stuff off until we became closer friends with another neighbor whom they don't like. Now they start calling
the cops anytime I light something. Even a bottle rocket or fountain. I know the cops think these people are ridiculous, but they legally have to respond to the call.

[PyroGyro]

As I write this, I am watching the mayor of the city of Boston give a press conference where amongst other things, he's talking about the overwhelming amount of complaints to police about illegal fireworks this year. He said that last year in the month of May, the Boston Police received 27 complaints about fireworks. This May? Over 650! LOL

[chetubet]

Just about an hour ago I was at neighborhood park along a river where I was testing my new electronic firing system while shooting off some salutes. As I was leaving this sweaty ass hipster dude approaches me and says "Hey what are you 12 years old?" I say "excuse me?" He says I must like loud noises and goes on a tirade about people with PTSD. He then goes all confrontational and tried to get in my face. I was with my girlfriend and another buddy so I just tell the guy that is legal and a free country and I am going to continue to shoot fireworks in the future so he can either be mad about it or get with the program and I walked way. Lol screw that guy...

[ttam23]

Almost every time I light fireworks my neighbors call the cops . what i do is after I light my fireworks I sit on my front porch and wait for the sheriff to show . We talk for about 5 min then he drives away.

[Icooclast]

Our town has a lot of complainers on social media. It's the same complaints and concerns as mentioned above. They complain more about fireworks then they do about the gunshots/shootings that occur. I don't shot fireworks much at home any more, mostly because of the close proximity of homes. If I do it's usually nothing aerial. There's plenty of noises in my neighborhood that I have/had problems with but I understand that I choose to live in a urban neighborhood.
. I also have 2 family members with PTSD and one is triggered by the closing of multiple car doors (the sounds he would hear just before his base would get attacked). So should we ban cars too?

no, just doors as a first step of a 2 step process.

actually i would vote for no wars anymore, and we just bring it in to our defense only (not to get political) this way we could, for the most part keep our fireworks (without wars there would be a lot less PTSD) my dad is a vietnam vet. and i never knew it until i had to do a report on it for school. and some of those questions we were supposed to ask, he answered but when i turned it in, i got curious and asked again. and he wouldn't say anything. just about nightmares and stuff when he first got back. not sure if car doors and fireworks and such ever bothered him when he first got back. never thought to ask.

they don't seem to now. like was already said everyone can't tip-toe around each other or we would all just sit there on a couch watching nothing (no tv, it make scary sounds, lol) it is just not possible to protect anyone from everything upsetting or getting hurt psychically or mentally. i still scream and have a and have a mild panic attacks when i'm in bed, trying to sleep, it's quiet and all of a sudden the wind goes through and pops/creeks a loose board or something and i freak out. happens a lot more so lately. but should we ban wood because of that? lol, no. maybe we'll ban wind instead?

[psilynt]

If you want some insight into what the uninformed masses think about fireworks feel free to suffer/waste some time in this reddit thread.

https://reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/hceos3/to_people_that_use_fireworks_on_random_nights_why/

[patsy]

Unfortunately like with anything else you have people who just hate or bothered by certain things. As the majority of us loves fireworks some people just don't. These people are always one sided and try to over reach their biased opinions. These complainers complain about anything and everything. Around the 4th of July, certain private events & holidays people will set off fireworks and the haters will always complain either about the volume of the party music or the sound of fireworks. These people dont realize that hard work, time and money are spent to mark the 4th,of July, private event and certain holidays. Its horrible that these pain in the ass people can ruin a perfectly good time and call the authorities and try to shut it all down.
Its a diffrent story if fireworks are being set off really late night in the early morning hours then thats more of a noise complaint then a fireworks complaint. If they have pets that are scared put them into a quite place for the night. If a person suffers from ptsd they always have the option to skip town for that date.

[Icooclast]

Unfortunately like with anything else you have people who just hate or bothered by certain things. As the majority of us loves fireworks some people just don't. These people are always one sided and try to over reach their biased opinions. These complainers complain about anything and everything. Around the 4th of July, certain private events & holidays people will set off fireworks and the haters will always complain either about the volume of the party music or the sound of fireworks. These people dont realize that hard work, time and money are spent to mark the 4th,of July, private event and certain holidays. Its horrible that these pain in the ass people can ruin a perfectly good time and call the authorities and try to shut it all down.
Its a diffrent story if fireworks are being set off really late night in the early morning hours then thats more of a noise complaint then a fireworks complaint. If they have pets that are scared put them into a quite place for the night. If a person suffers from ptsd they always have the option to skip town for that date.

asking/expecting someone to "skip town" as you put it, is a little unreasonable, since there's more than 1 day one hears fireworks, and someone shouldn't have to leave home for a day or whatever. our news channel offered a solution a couple years back for keeping people's pets calmer, and that was to crank up the radio and/or tv, to kinda drown it out for your pets. i think it sounds like a good idea for pets and vets. there are plenty music channels on tv now and of course the radio.

[Salutecake]

Hi Icooclast,

That solution for keeping pets calmer, "crank up the radio---" is a nice suggestion, but it is a farce. Listen, not looking for an argument, but years and years ago, for slightly over 20 years, I trained dogs for the USAF, then for another 15 years trained guard and attack dogs for private companies. To block out fireworks sounds for pets, you would probably have to turn up the radio volume so loud, you would not only be hurting your pets ears but also your neighbors ears the ones that are complaining about the fireworks in the first place. It might work with the Vets, cause our hearing is not nearly as sensitive as our pets. As far as asking/expecting someone to skip town I am up to 3 neighbors that I'm aware of that take their pets for a ride. I never asked them, nor would expect them to, I'll call her a very nice neighbor that found a solution that worked for her -- without making a stink for the rest of the neighborhood. Now after her starting that a few years ago, word got out, and other neighbors are doing the same thing, without complaining about going for a ride or complaints about fireworks.

[Icooclast]

you're lucky your neighbors do that, most are not that lucky.all the new people on my block have yet to be here for the 4th holiday, most have just moved in either the beginning of thiis year or the end of the latter (besides us & 2 others) i wish it was that easy in the past. but most people won't even go out of their way themselves for their own pets' sake, much less so other people can light fireworks. you must be in a nicer town? there are some nice things about here, but the people are pretty hit or miss, and most you just want to hit

[Salutecake]

I admit Icooclast, I have some great neighbors, but it was not always this good. I had one neighbor that use to call my house as soon as she heard noise - from any direction, she would call and threaten to call the cops, and she would. Then I found out the cop that patrols my town, parties with a neighbor of mine and watches the fireworks. 2 years ago after everything was shot off, people were leaving and one person came back to tell me a State Cop was at the end of my driveway. I got that bad feeling in my stomach and thought well let's get this over. I got partway down my driveway and didn't see the cop , so I asked a friend that was packing up to go home, where the cop was. He said he left, he was only here to watch the fireworks. Whew. Now basically in PA fireworks are legal and my elected borough official don't mind, in fact they do make it a point to watch them. So yes at the moment I am very lucky, neighbors that don't complain, a borough that doesn't care and a state that is legal, but I paid a price for years, and you know the good times don't last forever, but I will love it for now, lol

[joewad]

Signature says it all.......good or bad

[Mississippipyro]

If you want some insight into what the uninformed masses think about fireworks feel free to suffer/waste some time in this reddit thread.

https://reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/hceos3/to_people_that_use_fireworks_on_random_nights_why/

Thanks, that’s 30 minutes I will never get back lol. I did leave a nice post for the pyro haters lol

[Mississippipyro]

I have great neighbors who enjoy the fireworks so no complaints. On the 4th of July I do the neighborhood show with support of the HOA. I do light stuff all day long on the 4th, if anyone gets grumpy about it I recite this from John Adams and walk away on this day I do not ask permission period!
Independence Day] will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

[PennSteve]

The thing about those neighborhood sites is that people tend to use them a lot for bitching. Some folks just naturally see that forum as their comment card, because that's how they see any opportunity to communicate.

That being said, I've seen a mix of what I consider to be legitimate gripes and BS. I have both a dog and a two-year-old that's not great at sleeping, so I'm not stoked when someone down the street is shooting shells and cakes after 11pm on a weeknight several weeks before the Fourth. (Yep, this year.) As someone mentioned earlier, folks being inconsiderate always make the rest of us look bad. For example, I could just feel my wife glaring at me as that was going on. But there is a VERY vocal minority in our neighborhood's FB group that will soon start their July Fourth pre-bitching, and they'll be super-charged this year, and maybe even pick up a few sympathizers, thanks to whoever's been doing that.

I've been debating proposing a compromise on our site, asking folks to keep their fireworks to the Fourth or the days immediately before and after, as well as maybe knocking it off at a certain hour; and asking the complainers to just suck it up for a couple of nights like they do when, say, a thunderstorm scares their kids and pets. It's not like they haven't had 243 years' notice that there'd be fireworks. But I think I'll just stay out of it because such a suggestion would probably draw fire from both sides, and I do NOT want to own this debate in our neighborhood. (To put it in perspective, I live in a development of full of minivan families with small kids and dogs.)

[Arclight]

Y'all missed the opportunity to remind your neighbors that Juneteenth was a valid holiday and that they are very bad people for suggesting that it not be celebrated with fireworks

[FinnAmerican]

Even though I worry that someone will complain about my celebrating. And a confrontation with the local police department that could rise from it.
All of us must remind ourselves that THE SHOW MUST GO ON! And that we are celebrating a long running tradition; a holiday that remembers the beginning of our INDEPENDENCE. And that our local Governments have granted us the right to celebrate with Pyrotechnics. And maybe one day all states may be granted this right.
CARRY ON AND LIGHT FIREWORKS...

[FinnAmerican]

In case of a complaint; I'am prepared.
I have two images on my phone. One showing what Consumer Fireworks are legal in the state of Michigan. And the other a list of legal days and times.
5040
5041

[joed2323]

In case of a complaint; I'am prepared.
I have two images on my phone. One showing what Consumer Fireworks are legal in the state of Michigan. And the other a list of legal days and times.
5040
5041


whats BS is it was once legal year round to shoot fireworks in Michigan.

No offense to you and where you live but you can thank all the morons in downstate Michigan more importantly the people located in bigger cities for wrecking it for the pyros who abide by the rules/laws

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Don't feel bad. Fireworks are totally illegal in Florida 365 days of the year. Unless you're scaring birds away from crops or fishponds. So if the cops decide to get crazy down here, I'm going to have to change my name on here to Rick_in_prison.

[Icooclast]

Don't feel bad. Fireworks are totally illegal in Florida 365 days of the year. Unless you're scaring birds away from crops or fishponds. So if the cops decide to get crazy down here, I'm going to have to change my name on here to Rick_in_prison.

it's not as catchy Rick, lol. and they'd likely just fine you at first. one would think anyway.

[patsy]

Im sorry if you misunderstood my post in a negative way. I have a very high respect for the brave men and women who fought for our country. My father and uncle are both Veterans. They both have always been apart of our families firework shows since the late 70's.
They both started our family tradition with my uncle who used to possess an ATF lisence. I also own 2 dogs so the point that I was trying to make is the fact that there are these same advocates who just want all consumer & display fireworks gone. They try speaking out for those people who are environmentalists, pet owners and people who suffer from ptsd.
I was not stating that people should be forced out of there homes. Fireworks activity is always heavy around the 4th and New Years Eve. This is the time where I take my dogs to my in laws house because its in a quiet area. If I was not a fan of fireworks or if fireworks bothered me I would plan a nice little getaway for that particular holiday. I was stating that everyone has options and the right to entertain with pyrotechnics.
People should however complain if fireworks are not being handled in a safe manner resulting in injury or property damage or if they continue to shoot till the wee morning hours then thats a valid complaint.