Once again the city was subject to illegal fireworks displays, which city officials refuse to try to stop.
Someday an innocent bystander will be hurt or someone’s house will burn down from burning debris landing on their roof. Children and pets probably wouldn’t benefit from finding debris. If you happen to step in some gunpowder residue, the TSA may not let you board a plane.
It would be easy to tone things down without any additional regulations. Extra patrols could be added during those few peak hours and offenders cited for violation of noise ordinances. If debris landed off the offender’s property, just a normal littering fine should be enough to keep it from happening again.
For every stick, there should be a carrot. The city should post prices of the elements of the public display, and those who buy them should be allowed to set them off – giving far greater bang for their dollar. A two-key system could be used so both the purchaser and a fireworks professional would need to trigger the display.
Roy Schweiker
Concord