4th of July is too crazy for me

[MrBug708]

Not sure how the laws work in some states, I know Missouri allows most fireworks and Nevada allowes almost as many fireworks, but in California you are allowed to shoot off the milder fireworks provided your city allows it. Los Angeles, the city, Im not sure their rules but in the counties, 3/4's of the cities do not allow the display of any kind of fireworks unless it's done at a big public spectacule. Well, I live in one of the cities that does allow fireworks and it's annoying as hell. Now, if everyone abided the law and just bought fireworks that they sold in the stands every 100 feet, it wouldn't be so bad but seeing as how were are 4 hours from Nevada and 3 hours from Mexico, everyone has fireworks of the illegal kind. I'm not even talking about a couple here and there though. I'd say that the illegals outweigh the legal ones by a margin of 5-1. It sounds like a warzone and people are stupid with them They'll shoot fireworks at people passing by or other groups of people who are enjoying fireworks. Driving is even worse because people will shoot bottle rockets at your car as you drive by. I've seen kids running around with Roman Candles and firing them at each other. My mom and sister were at some friends house and they shot an ariel rocket and it went the wrong direction and caught some brush on fire. Luckily there was a bucket of water for circumstances such as these. Going outside gives you a dirty haze and smells like fire and smoke. You probably can't see further then 50-60 feet either.

Anyone else have anything similar like this?

[ShaqFu]

Roman Candles and Bottle Rockets and Mortars (those are the ones that look like the public fireworks) are legal in some states. States like Florida have year round stands that sell the works. Nevada and Alaska are two other states with unrestricted fireworks that come to mind.

Go to tntfirworks.com or fireworks.com to get an idea of all that is legal in certain parts of the country. M-50s marketed as (but not the same as) M-80s and milder cherry bombs are legal in some places.

The term safe-and-sane is different from state to state. In California, for instance, if it leaves the ground or explodes, it is illegal. That means that only novelties (things like poppers), sparklers, snakes and fountains are about all that is legal.

[Eaglesfan27]

New Orleans goes crazy with the fireworks, and I know exactly how you feel Bug. When I first moved down here, some sort of firework just missed setting my car on fire because some jackasses were lighting them in the parking lot and caught a bush on fire that was right next to my car. I ran to my car and moved it to safety.

[33sherman]

This was my first 4th in Indiana and I was pretty shocked. Not only are fireworks legal, bu apparently it's okay to just walk around town lighting them off. We had a fireworks show near the stadium, and people were lighting off roman candles and bottle rockets in the packed parking lots in full view of the police. I'm from the Norheast and it was sort of crazy to me, because there's plenty of illegal fireworks there but you can't go lighting them off in public places and expect to get away with it.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Not sure how the laws work in some states, I know Missouri allows most fireworks and Nevada allowes almost as many fireworks, but in California you are allowed to shoot off the milder fireworks provided your city allows it. Los Angeles, the city, Im not sure their rules but in the counties, 3/4's of the cities do not allow the display of any kind of fireworks unless it's done at a big public spectacule. Well, I live in one of the cities that does allow fireworks and it's annoying as hell. Now, if everyone abided the law and just bought fireworks that they sold in the stands every 100 feet, it wouldn't be so bad but seeing as how were are 4 hours from Nevada and 3 hours from Mexico, everyone has fireworks of the illegal kind. I'm not even talking about a couple here and there though. I'd say that the illegals outweigh the legal ones by a margin of 5-1. It sounds like a warzone and people are stupid with them They'll shoot fireworks at people passing by or other groups of people who are enjoying fireworks. Driving is even worse because people will shoot bottle rockets at your car as you drive by. I've seen kids running around with Roman Candles and firing them at each other. My mom and sister were at some friends house and they shot an ariel rocket and it went the wrong direction and caught some brush on fire. Luckily there was a bucket of water for circumstances such as these. Going outside gives you a dirty haze and smells like fire and smoke. You probably can't see further then 50-60 feet either.

Anyone else have anything similar like this?

Yes, in CA too. For the last 3 days it's been non-stop firewords 24/7 (and they're illegal in this city).

And no matter how many times these idiots are told ... IT'S TOO DAMNED DRY AROUND HERE TO BE SHOOTING THESE THINGS OFF.

I'll wake up in the morning and read about 50 brushfires in the paper.

I never really could understand why the cheap (non-city sponsored) fireworks are so exciting for some people. I can get more excited using the memory function on my adding machine.

[Cringer]

I love living where I do now. Not many people do fireworks around here, so my dogs don't go mad. Before we lived 'out of the city' where many more people shot of fireworks.

Tonight we went to a indy league baseball game and one of the fireworks didn't go up at all, the thing went off on the ground near the 'launcher.' I am sure no one was hurt, but it was damn cool looking to see a bigas firework go off on the ground.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Going outside gives you a dirty haze and smells like fire and smoke. You probably can't see further then 50-60 feet either.

I was under the impression that L.A. is always like this.

[kcchief19]

Man, I was starting to think I was the only one who felt like this and figured if I said anything I would be accused of being un-American.

I like fireworks just fine -- when I was a kid, we lived outside the city limits and pretty much anything was legal. We always had a great time on the Fourth.

But it's the stupidity, lack of respect for the law and lack of respect for common decency that ticks me off. I had to run out for a quick errand last night before dark and the idiots were filling the streets of our neighborhood with trash and scarring the streets that I'm sure my taxes will have to be used to repair later. All of these morons have driveways -- why can't they set their shit off in the driveway rather than block the street and make somebody who is trying to get somewhere drive around their damn trash or wait for their fountain to stop?

I grew up in a town of about 150,000 and we didn't have a public fireworks show until I was about 15, and then it was always the Saturday before the Fourth. I understand having your own fireworks show in that case, But with probably at least 50 public displays in Kansas City on the Fourth, it makes a lot more sense to go see a really good public display than sit around in your yard drinking watching a crappy fireworks display.

Wait a minute ... maybe drinking is the key.

[Ragone]

honestly kcchief.. i usually hope it rains on the 4th of july.. nothing like trying to mow your lawn in a mindfield of hopefully non explosive filled "dud" fireworks..

and last year a neighbor(thankfully down the street a ways) shot a bottle rocket through his car window.. and caught his upholstry on fire.... so you'd think he would have learned right.. well.. this year he caught his roof on fire

[kcchief19]

Poetic justice ... until the fire jumps from his roof to someone else's house.

[Ragone]

yea.. i called 911 as i was driving by as it happened no less. police showed up and issued him a citiation.. should have just thrown his ass in jail for a night

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by ice4277

I was under the impression that L.A. is always like this.

Um, no

[MJ4H]

I have always REALLY been annoyed personal fireworks. Most of my sentiments have been echoed above (last night I swear I heard a string of blackcats going off for upwards of 10 straight minutes). I can enjoy public, professionally prepared and executed shows, but other than that I wish they were illegal.

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I have always REALLY been annoyed personal fireworks. Most of my sentiments have been echoed above (last night I swear I heard a string of blackcats going off for upwards of 10 straight minutes). I can enjoy public, professionally prepared and executed shows, but other than that I wish they were illegal.

As am I, I just spent half my morning picking shit up out of my yard so my dogs don't get ahold of the shit and get sick or choke to death. I think the people should have to following their damn garbage or be charged with littering.

[CraigSca]

Personal fireworks suck. They are nothing more than an annoyance. It's like everyone whoops it up by running in the streets and banging pots and pans together.

[rkmsuf]

I never get personal fireworks when they have a huge, professional fireworks show. Like right after the real fireworks, these idiots start lighting off their own, inferior versions as everyone is walking to go home. It's firework envy is what it is.

[wade moore]

luckily where i live almost everyone has close to 1/2 an acre or more, so the few personal fireworks let off, stay within their yard..

[ShaqFu]

I see nothing wrong with personal fireworks. It's a fun way to celebrate the Fourth. The public displays can be just as dangerous. Growing up, a shell (still hot) from one landed in the audience. I've heard that people have been hit by shells and homes destroyed by still burning ones.

The ground-based, non-explosive fireworks are great, but one thing that makes the Fourth great are the booms. Unfortunately too many people are idiots on the Fourth. They don't use these things as intended, launch them in areas they shouldn't, or do it at obscene hours of the night.

As for lighting them in the street, I think people do that because it makes the most sense. The directions say to keep them away from grass and homes. The driveway can be a little too close for comfort. Did get busted for having them on the street myself the other night. Cop asked us to move them on the property, so I put them on cement, just inside my property line (edge of street) He left us alone after that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting thread & reaction to personal fireworks.

Last night we lit off maybe a couple of dozen of sparklers (some of them were "fountains"? Basically sent little "jellybeans" of color silently about 2-3 feet up.)
First time in my lifetime AFAIK that they were legal in Georgia. Fun for what it was, got a pretty good reaction from my 7 y/o, who is actually a bit of a fireworks snob after seeing so many displays at WDW, I think he just got a kick out of being in such proximity even though they're pretty tiny.

Still, right on cue, here's the headline story of today's AJC

Tanker overturns after people throw rocks, fireworks
Crowd climbs atop cab after wreck in southwest Atlanta

By MIKE MORRIS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/05/05

A tanker truck wreck that prompted the evacuation of a northwest Atlanta apartment complex was apparently caused by kids throwing rocks, concrete and fireworks at the big rig.

The truck driver, Rafael Diaz, 29, of Woodstock, told investigators that a group of 8 to 11 juveniles were standing beside the road shooting off firecrackers, Atlanta police Sgt. Kevin Iosty said.

As Diaz drove by, the group threw rocks and chunks of concrete at the truck and shot fireworks at the tractor-trailer.

"One of the fireworks entered the cab, striking [Diaz] in the head and exploding," Iosty said.

Diaz, who was hauling 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel from a Powder Springs fuel depot to a truck stop about a mile away at I-285, lost control of the tanker, and the eastbound truck careened across the westbound lanes and jumped the curb.

The truck smashed a fire hydrant and went down an embankment and across a parking lot before overturning in a stand of pine trees. The top of the truck's cab was sheared off in the accident.

Diaz, a driver for Penn Tank Lines, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in serious condition, Iosty said.

Atlanta Fire Department spokeswoman Jolene Butts Freeman said that when firefighters arrived, "people were actually standing on top of tanker once it was overturned."

She said she didn't know why the crowd of as many as 50 people climbed atop the flipped truck.

"It's something out of a movie," said Freeman. "Why they were on top of the tanker, it beats me. They were just all climbing on top."

Firefighters evacuated part of a nearby apartment complex, and some residents were still out of their homes at daybreak.

Freeman said that only about 20 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the tanker, and a second truck was brought in to offload the remaining fuel.

Police were investigating reports that rocks were thrown at other vehicles along the stretch road formerly known as Bankhead Highway earlier in the evening. At daybreak, several chunks of concrete, some nearly as big as a football, still littered the road.

"I can't imagine why anyone, one, would be throwing rocks at a vehicle traveling down the street, and two, why they were throwing fireworks -- it's just not a way to celebrate the Fourth of July -- they have endangered someone's life," Freeman said.

Police had opened all but one westbound lane of the roadway by 7 a.m., but the clean-up of the wreckage continued throughout the morning.