Here we go again …
This column is becoming a bit of an annual tradition. I first wrote about fireworks, and the handful of people who ruin a good time for everybody, in this very space five years ago today.
With fires, dry grass and careless people each seemingly in greater supply than ever before, I’m in no mood to shut up about it now. So I’m going to say it all over again, figuring if it makes even one person stop and smell the embers, it will have been well worth the effort.
Look, nobody loves the Fourth of July more than I do. I wake up with a half-dozen patriotic and/or blood-pumping anthems in my head. I give thanks I live in a nation where I’m free to disagree with anything the government or the people up the street are doing — and I even get to write about it in the newspaper if I choose. I also remain thankful that, 248 years into this grand experiment, we still set aside an entire day for no reason other than to celebrate our freedom.
But that doesn’t mean I love the thought of fireworks in the hands of stupid people.
After the Camp Fire, and the Carr Fire, and the Mendocino Complex Fire, and the night the Dixie Fire destroyed Greenville, the sight of burning embers has pretty much lost its appeal to me. Also, the whole combination of “fireworks stand” and “acres of brown grass” couldn’t possibly look more wrong.
For example, crossing the Butte County line on my way home at night, I see three fireworks stands, each within a 9-iron of a patch of tall, dry grass — the same tall, dry grass that dominates our north state countryside each summer.
Gee. What could possibly go wrong?
So the fireworks are there. Even though they’re 100% illegal in Butte County (except for Gridley and Oroville, which allow “safe and sane” fireworks), you can buy them by making a 10-minute drive west of Chico. In Glenn County, they’re fair game. Tehama County, too. Thus, they end up everywhere, county lines and fire hazards be damned.
Are they fun? Sure. Are they safe under proper supervision one night a year? Absolutely, and I’d never suggest otherwise.
But are there just enough fools in our midst to ruin a good time for everybody? Of course.
That’s largely because somewhere along the line, personal fireworks stopped being a one-night-a-year thing. Some people insist on turning July 4 into a 10-day celebration, launching loud, nightly salvos while most of the working world is trying against all odds to sleep.
“Wake up! I heard a gunshot!”
“Nope, just another firecracker. Go back to sleep. By the way, happy Eighth of July.”
It’s a pain for our public safety officials, too.
“We receive calls every night from the day fireworks go on sale through the weekend following the Fourth,” Rick Carhart, public information officer for Cal Fire’s Butte unit, told me a few years back. “We see a significant number of fireworks-related calls every night, peaking on the Fourth but continuing for the next several days.”
Several days of additional fires that were 100 percent preventable, if not for human stupidity. And that doesn’t include the hundreds of calls police get from people who understandably mistake fireworks for gunshots.
Then there’s the trauma it causes so many of our veterans, who deserve better in more ways than I could begin to list in this column. PTSD is real. With your overblown acts of showing off in the grand old name of patriotism, you’re badly hurting some of the very people who fought so valiantly for your freedom in the first place. Ironic and dumb, isn’t it?
And finally, there’s the impact these explosions have on our animals. Every year, frightened dogs, cats and other critters run away from home because of the noise. I’ve even heard of pets and livestock dying from the stress. But hey! You’re just celebrating our freedom, right?
So — consider this a plea. If you bring fireworks home, limit the show to July 4. That’s what they’re meant for, and at least then, we can expect they’re coming. In the meantime, keep them under lock and key. And when the night comes, be smart, be safe, and for the love of George Washington, please be courteous and respectful of other people’s peace and property.
More than ever, our firefighters (and police officers, and veterans, and animals) need a break. Sacrificing a few selfish displays of human stupidity seems like a great place to start.
Mike Wolcott’s column will return July 14. He can be reached at mwolcott@chicoer.com.