Fireworks... Still Setting Them Off??

Updated on July 07, 2011
K.B. asks from Waukesha, WI
10 answers

So my wonderful, colorful, neighbor across the street loves his fireworks. The thing is he sets them off LATE at night, like 10:30-11pm, as well as setting them off starting July 2nd/3rd and every night since (so far through today July 6th). Now he only sets off a handful or less of fireworks each night but I am positive that most of them are not legal (some look homemade or boughten/gotten from someone else who homemade them).

Last night he set of four, the first was pretty, store bought and ok in my book BUT the second was LOUD, homemade, woke up my daughter who was scared and crying, photo frames in our house vibrated but none fell off the wall. I stormed out of the house apporached the neighbor and told him to stop, he set off 2 more after I left, less loud but at 11pm it is too late in my book to be setting off loud fireworks, in the city and the 4th is over.

This morning I saw him and nicely asked him to refrain from setting any more off, or at least set them off no later then 9:30pm. I have not looked into the law but I am pretty sure in the city you can not set them off except for the 3rd-5th, maybe even only the 4th. On top of that I know that in the state there are only so many that are legal and most of his fireworks do not fit the legal discription.

Well he just set another one off tonight, July 6th. It seems that he will stop at 2 tonight, but it is past 11pm. I hate to be the neighbor that calls the police but I have talked to him twice (once not so nicely, the other time nicely) and that did not work. Tomorrow if he does it again I plan on calling. What would you do, would you have called it in a long time ago, or just let it go? My next door neighbor has called the police before on this across the street neighbor but I feel that maybe 2 people calling it in might bring this unsafe and unneighborly carelessness to an end.

This is the same neighbor that has been caught by police peeing in his own yard, for all to see and asked to stop, not just once, but twice. Most of the time he is an ok guy and his wife is nice, they keep to themselves and he usually does not create trouble or at least respects others when asked to stop yelling swear words when kids are out playing.

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So What Happened?

Thanks. I just called the police. They said they would drive by, but my neighbor has already settled down for the night so they will see nothing. I will be calling as soon as the firework is set off tomorrow. I hate thinking bad of others and call the police on them but will do so if harm, danger or rudeness/illegal matters/behavior is taking place.

Featured Answers

K.L.

answers from Redding on

Fireworks are illegal in my county but it didnt stop some from buying them across the county line and bringing them back. The city puts on a huge all day celebration with music and craft booths, food vendors, and fireworks after dark. there is too much of a fire danger here so we just dont want people setting off their own. Didnt stop some of my neighbors tho and I was just getting ready to call 911 when the patrol car came by.

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L.A.

answers from Austin on

I do not understand what you have been waiting for. Once you asked him not to shoot anymore, you should have called the Police when he shot them off again. You have rights too. This is why we have a Police force.

1. There must be a sound ordinance in your city/town. Here it is 10 pm weekdays and 11 pm weekends. Find out what your are and what it includes.. Cars running in driveways, loud music live or recorded, voices, barking dogs...

2. There are city ordinances about when fireworks can be fired off. Find out these rules.

3. Never make a threat you are not willing to follow through on. EVER. You need to do this for your family. Your baby should be able to feel safe in her own home.

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M.H.

answers from Seattle on

Cal 911 - he is out of line and probably going against the law. The 4th of July you can understand the manly " need" for making noise - if he cannot find his satisfaction in breaking the law on the 4th - not your problem - the noise that is waking up your child is a problem and needs to be dealt with promptly. Do not wait until tomorrow. Call now! (My husband is a judge and he would call 911)

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L.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Just read your post. I hope everything works out. My husband would of called already..especially if he had already spoken to the neighbor first. We have 4 children and we would be really upset if our children woke up from the "loud" noise..especially after 11pm.

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P.H.

answers from Fargo on

If he is using homemade or illegal fireworks they could be very dangerous. Let the police know about that too. A guy where I live got his head blown off by illegal fireworks the other day.

1 mom found this helpful

L.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

I would have called the cops right after you kindly asked him to stop and he continued. He sounds like an inconsiderate jerk -- ESPECIALLY doing this on a week night when people have to work in the morning.

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

I would have called once my home was disturbed (baby wakes up). In my house it is a BIG issue when my son is woken up mid sleep and I make sure if it was an outside influence they UNDERSTAND the mistake they made. Now, I have to stay up with my son until 8pm tomorrow b/c typically he can not go back to sleep from a "rude" awakening such as fireworks or fireworks making the 3 dogs freak out! One thing I like about the area I am in right now is that there is no time frame for you to call in regards to disturbing the peace, one day a neighbor had a party from 10am until 10pm with a very loud DJ the entire time, my dogs barked at them and took forever to "go potty" b/c they were too busy barking at the party goers and they could not hear me very well over the music. I wanted to call at 7:30 when we begin bed time routines in my house but I had always had to wait until 10pm or 11pm on weekends for it to be possible, not here!!! So, back to the topic at hand - call the police, call them the SECOND the first goes off no matter the time.

A.W.

answers from Kalamazoo on

How many times was it loud enough to wake your daughter? Once? I don't think it's a big deal. I know here in Michigan, it's not dark until about 10:30 so what's the point of lighting them off before then? It's just my opinion but I think you're over reacting. We have fire works left over from the 4th and we plan on lighting them this weekend, in town and after 10pm!!!!!

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K.W.

answers from Cedar Rapids on

Your city should have a noise ordinance that states, regardless of the date on the calendar, how many decibels of sound are too loud after a certain time of night, usually 10pm. I would have called it in last night and if he dares to set another one off after 10pm tonight, I would definitely not hesitate!

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