Lots of illegal fireworks out there (Happy Valley: buy, professionals, dangerous)

[Yankeemama]

Turquoise- Oh... you live right next to my neighborhood. Gosh, now I know why it's so loud for you. Every year I can see huge fireworks coming from Mt. tabor area from my upstairs windows. I heard them tonight, as well. Do you have a sound machine? I can sometimes block out loud noises from outside with the "white noise" function at high volume. Doesn't help with the loud booms, though. Summer is hard, too, because we keep windows open. I bet you would never have thought it to be this loud in Portland, coming from NYC?. Stay safe!

[turquoise1]

Thank you, Yankeemama! No, I had no idea it would be this noisy. People are still setting off their leftover whistlers tonight. We do have sound machines but they don't block out really high-pitched whistlers or low-pitched booms. I hope people exhaust their supply soon. From now on, I think I will be leaving town during July 4

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by turquoise1

Yankeemama, we actually moved around Mt. Tabor. It seems very family-friendly but I'm surprised at the amount of fireworks that have been set off. We did call the cops but to me they seem pretty apathetic. I have lived all over the country and in other countries and I have never witnessed this level of apathy/incompetence. Thank you for your understanding, Yankeemama and Minervah! I always like chatting with you.

Same here.

It isn't only the cops who can be apathetic. People sometimes have a dissmissive attitude towards this kind of thing as well.

One of the reasons I declined the invitation to go to my friend's barbeque this year was because when I told her about the debris from her neighbor's missile landing on my shoulder she didn't want to go over and tell him because she said she was "It would make him feel bad!!" because he was her neighbor. Well that made me feel pretty bad I can tell you. She felt that since they were neighbors, she didn't want to cause hard feelings. So I told her "Well, he isn't my neighbor so I'll go over and talk to him." But she wouldn't let me do that either.

My intentions in telling him were not to complain, but to make him understand he should not be setting these things off, period. He had lots of different fireworks shooting up in the sky but these missiles whatever they were, bottle rockets I think, were nothing more than dangerous explosives. I thought he should be warned, not threatened or complained to. All I wanted to do was to ask him to stop shooting these off because the fallout was appearing in someone else's back yard and that a piece had hit me.

But she took the attitude that I wanted to go over and complain. I try to tell her that wasn't the case but she didn't get it. And therein lies the problem; the people who think these things are fun and games don't get how dangerous it really can be to set them off where people live close together. I just get the attitude that there are so many people here who get away with this every year and somehow the cops can't, don't or won't stop it even with the hotline.

I am sorry too, that you had to go through this turquoise1, maybe next year a vacation away this time a year would be a good idea.

[Yankeemama]

Turquoise and Minerva-
Last year we did leave for Fourth of July and I was nervous before the trip but once I was on vacation looking at a fireworks display and enjoying myself, the worries went away. I have excellent neighbors, however, that I kept in contact with so that made a huge difference. You can always go away next year and ask your neighbors to water your property down and text you at the end of the night's festivities. Or you can stay downtown in a hotel so you can enjoy the official display and sleep more soundly. I have done that in other cities that I have lived. Minerva- glad you stayed away from your friend's house this year. She literally "did not have your back". Hope your kitty is happy tonight.

[EnricoV]

Not 4th of July related ... but, I was alone at my business once, when two guys came in and broke a case to steal some things (several thousand dollars worth of some things). I called cops while it was happening and they were still in there with me ... and it took them half an hour to show up. These guys took off on foot, and could have easily been caught. But they just really didn't care. Thankfully, they didn't harm me in any way. But no thanks to the police.

I'm all for supporting the cops. Have several in the family. But most of the time, they really just don't care about the smaller stuff.

[Deezus]

The cops barely have time to follow up on all the theft and burglary and assault cases in this city. They really don't have the resources to arrest many people for illegal fireworks when it's basically happening on every other block in the city for two hours on the 4th of July. A decade ago I could actually get cops to come out to the scene to file a report when my car got broken into--these days you just leave a message and they'll call you back later that day.

I really don't mind the fireworks on the 4th of July. It's not a big deal in Washington State just over the river where they have less lenient laws(and thus supply Oregon with our supply of fireworks)--though Washington tend to be a bit less restrictive on everything these days. People shoot off some rockets on the 4th--okay, just a good stupid American tradition.

What get's annoying is when your redneck neighbors, who the rest of the year appear to be one step away from the poorhouse, somehow have the resources to buy enough fireworks to shoot off every night for two weeks following the 4th of July--and for a week after New Years as well--making the whole neighborhood sound like some sort of hillbilly Fallujah on a nightly basis.

[Yankeemama]

I have called the police about three times since I moved here almost four years ago. I have always made repeat calls for each incident and eventually the police have always come. We do have an alarm system but that won't stop a desperate meth head from trying to knock down your door, alarm or not. I have had a desperate meth head slamming on my door trying to get me to open it, saying he ran out of gas down te street. He scared the crap out of me especially since I had two small children with me. That was when we first moved here but it felt like a close call. I have a panic button on my security alarm remote that I carry around my neck while home alone. Yes, I feel the police could come in five minutes but still be too late if a home invasion happens.

[turquoise1]

Wow, Yankeemama, that is really scary.

So far that hasn't happened - we've just had various activists knocking on the door asking us to sign petitions and donate, and someone who said he was a Jehovah's Witness but who was asking for money.

[Yankeemama]

Turquoise- Our streets seemed more deserted then and that added to the fear. The last year and a half has seen more people moving into our neighborhood, especially hipsters renting around here. Lots of bike traffic and more pedestrians, for sure. I actually "feel" safer with the increase of human bodies living and traveling on my street. This is not scientific but just my personal observation. I actually had several weird incidents that first year. I will knock on wood but things seem to be better and property values are going up... neighbors are doing lots of renovations and our hood has become much more desirable. I will say that the most important thing though is having a few really good neighbors. I feel so fortunate to be able to call upon my neighbors who have been already very helpful to our family. I have found Portlanders to be more reserved but many have been awesome when it matters.

[turquoise1]

I see. That is great you can call on your neighbors. I don't know my neighbors very well yet but the few I have met seem nice.