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All across the Bay Area from the suburbs to the urban cities, residents are losing sleep, babies are crying and dogs are hiding behind the couch every night because illegal fireworks have been going off incessantly for weeks.
Although pre-Fourth of July fireworks aren’t exactly a new phenomenon, no one seems to remember hearing them so many weeks before the holiday and with such frequency.
“They’re disrupting people’s lives,” said Marione Michlich, of South San Jose, adding that the fireworks start around 8 every night like clockwork. “My little dog is going to have a heart attack. I’m not getting any sleep because I’m trying to console my dog.”
FIREWORKS: We are receiving complaints about a higher than normal use of illegal fireworks. The repeated loud explosions are concerning for certain members of the community including pets and livestock. There is also danger of fire. Call our non emergency number 510 667-7721.
— Alameda County Sheriff (@ACSOSheriffs) June 22, 2020
As Independence Day approaches, city, fire and police officials are scrambling to figure out why and how so many scofflaws have gotten their hands on the fireworks, described by people posting on social media and calling in complaints as nerve-rattling explosions or bursts of gunfire.
In unincorporated areas of Redwood City, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office says it’s definitely seen an uptick in firework complaints this year, though it hasn’t tallied up the numbers yet to prove it.
The reason fireworks are illegal in most cities remains the same as always — they’re dangerous.
On June 15 just after midnight, for example, sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of two vehicles ablaze on the 300 block of 2nd Avenue in North Fair Oaks near Redwood City. They found that a 19-year-old man had lit up a rocket, then kicked the smoldering remnants under his car, where they ignited some oil that had leaked from the engine, Lt. Stephanie Josephson said.
Across the bay, a thunderous fireworks symphony can be heard in Richmond pretty much every night, says police Lt. Matt Stonebraker, noting that the city has seen an almost 100% spike in complaints from the same period last year.
Usually the complaints roll in around mid-June, but this year they started in mid-May and haven’t let up, Stonebraker said. So far this month police have received about 1,160 calls, compared to just over 200 last June, he added.
And in almost all cases when police respond, the culprits are usually gone and nowhere to be seen.
“They’ve been unable to catch anyone in the act,” Stonebraker said. “That’s what’s missing, so that makes it very, very difficult to enforce the law.”
Stonebraker said fireworks seem to be more accessible than ever, as people easily find them on Craigslist as well as through apps such as letgo and OfferUp.
Though speculation — and conspiracy theories — is rampant on social media about the reason for the surge of illegal fireworks, he said it’s most likely bored teens who have been cooped up too long because of stay-at-home orders.
And with Fourth of July fireworks shows cancelled everywhere because of the coronavirus pandemic, Stonebraker said people also are just trying to fill the void by putting on their own neighborhood displays.
“The explosions are louder than normal,” Stonebraker said. “Some are so loud that we’ve had people say they’re worried they could kill somebody. It’s a huge source of stress and anxiety for many people, including veterans suffering from PTSD, and young kids. Pets, too, suffer a lot. We’re seeing a blatant disregard by people even to consider those things like no other time I can remember.”
In San Francisco, Department of Emergency Management information officer Marie Valdez said the city has seen “much higher overall numbers” of complaints this year. On June 19 alone, police received 279 complaints compared to 54 on that date last year, she said.
In Oakland, where 33-year-old resident Nora Cullinen tweeted a recording of a clap of fireworks near Lake Merritt, it’s gotten so bad that the fire department is helping police respond to complaints.
City Council President Rebecca Kaplan meanwhile is proposing that the fire department respond to all complaints instead of police.
Nonstop for hours, night after night. How can anyone afford THIS MANY professional grade fireworks. This is suspect af! #oakland #oaklandprotest #FireworksTrauma pic.twitter.com/LTeqlxxu4d
— Nora (@Californora) June 22, 2020
She explained in an interview Wednesday there’s been a lot of talk about police not always responding to complaints and the switch would be one of the first steps in rethinking the role of police in the wake of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis.
“We’ve been getting certainly significant complaints in terms of the widespread and late-night fireworks and the risk of fire,” Kaplan said. “There have been some brush fires started by fireworks already that have been reported as well as people having their sleep disrupted — their pets, their children and seniors losing sleep.”
In San Jose, the city has placed a digital billboard on Highway 101, and VTA buses are carrying wrap-around ads in a campaign urging residents to use the fire department’s online reporting tool to help them catch people setting off fireworks. The city is also buying up ads on Facebook and Instagram to get the message out and doing outreach with Neighborhood Watch groups.
But longtime San Jose resident Jeff Levine says he’s had enough already.
In an email to Councilmember Raul Peralez, he wrote:
“This is the worst I’ve ever experienced with the non-stop explosions during the day and all through the night. I’ve not had more than 1-hour uninterrupted sleep in the last 5 days. It is getting worse and there are many thousands of fellow citizens who are irate.
“For the 10th largest city in the country, who has the audacity to proclaim itself ‘The Capital of Silicon Valley,’ this is an embarrassment.”
