Dugualla Bay Cont.
This year I was hopeful that the fireworks were more under control than previous years. It seemed like there weren't too many on my street before the 3rd. The night of the third, we came home to loose animals in the driveway. I put them back in their pasture and stayed out with them until 11 when the fireworks stopped. They were distant, they were only from about 8pm-11pm on the 3rd, all good!
Then came the 4th, Saturday. I went out to do the evening chores with the animals. All around me were explosions. It sounded like a war zone and I thought of the children around the world currently in war zones hearing explosions all around them. I got more and more anxious until I was crying finishing the outdoor evening chores. I was walking up the steps to come in and my husband came out, maybe he heard me crying. That final startle of the door opening was too much and I collapsed screaming, having a panic attack. He scooped me up and carried me in, away from the overwhelming bombardment. Once I calmed down a little, I tried putting on music, reading a book, going to bed. The fireworks were louder in my room. Eventually I took medication so I could go to bed. I had things I needed to do in the morning.
I wish I didn't panic at fireworks but it's not something I can control. My mind knows it's okay, but my nervous system reacts the way so many dogs do. I feel like I'm being cut up. If my neighbors understood what it does to me, I believe they wouldn't set off fireworks. As a kid, I enjoyed watching the public community fireworks show with my family. It was one hour and the whole community came together for it. Since moving to Whidbey 13 years ago, I haven't seen many fireworks, only heard them all around me, sometimes for weeks. I think it is worst when the 4th is mid-week and some folks celebrate the weekend before or after and spread out the barrage. Since getting divorced 9 years ago, the fireworks have triggered panic attacks for me. Fortunately, they are about the only thing that does, but still - it's a week twice a year of being on edge.
My sister-in-law can't come visit us for 4th of July or New Year's because she has to take care of her anxious dogs through the fireworks. It is hard for me to leave because I have kids and animals and limited funds as well. My animals are scared by the fireworks. My kids and I spend the following day picking up firework garbage on the beaches with our friends. When I moved to Whidbey, the grasslands along the highway were burned by a fire started by fireworks. This year, folks in our community had their homes burned down by neighbor's fireworks. My cousin recently had his thumb blown off by home fireworks. The Oak Harbor wrestling team was selling explosives to individuals as a fundraiser? Teenagers selling explosives sounds wildly unreasonable to me.
If it's not okay to sell explosives the rest of the year, why make an exception? I've heard "your rights end where someone else's bein", meaning you do not have the right to hurt someone or take things from them because they have the right to safety and security. The state of fireworks as they currently stand is beyond the scope of individual freedoms and rights and into the realm of intruding on others and causing harm. Two of my neighbors also flee from the fireworks - one attributes the anxiety to military service PTSD. Driving so many people from their homes, interrupting families, work, and lives, causing stress and panic, stimulating a war zone, frightening animals, and littering is not necessary for celebrating our country or the new year.
Please, please, please, end this! Let next year be a celebration that's fun for everyone, that lets community come together, that allows neighbors the freedom to celebrate, or not, with peace and safety in their homes and neighborhoods. End the private explosives sales.
-A. S.
Greenbank
CAMANO ISLAND
Dear Safe and Humane Fireworks Campaign,
I am writing to share my experience with illegal and nuisance fireworks on Camano Island. We live in the mid-island area, and several nearby houses frequently light off fireworks that completely terrify our animals.
In particular, there is one location lighting off illegal fireworks that sound as powerful as a quarter stick of dynamite. These explosions are strong enough to rattle our windows.
Beyond the noise, I am deeply concerned about safety. The fireworks are often pointed in the direction of our home, and given the current dry conditions, I worry that one will land on our property and start a fire. Furthermore, these fireworks are consistently being used during prohibited hours, including early in the morning and late into the evening.
Thank you for your efforts to raise awareness about these dangers.
Best regards,
Eric P. Conzelmann
79 with PTSD
Hello and thank you for the opportunity to address this serious issue.
I've attached a photo of the debris that fell onto my driveway, carport and SUV. I picked some out of my trees and rosebushes.
Most of this was around my RV. I can't climb up to the roof of it or my house to clear it and check for damages. I could hear it hitting my roof!
My PTSD was triggered. I'm 79, have a heart defect. But what got me trembling was the triggered noise of explosions and when I got hit by a car while walking and another accident when my car was hit so hard, I was knocked off a bridge and my Great Dane was ejected out the side window.
I know my PTSD came from accidents far less important than a soldier's... but the feelings, the agony, being attacked, the horror and near death experience with years of recovery don't make my situation any less real and very horrible.
Yes...FIREworks are harmful on so many levels.
Only my fence between driveways separates us so he might as well have been in my front yard!
I had to take a break from reliving my PTSD stories and forgot to mention my dogs. This was their 1st FIREworks event with me. Thankfully they were not massively affected. They followed me everywhere and sat on me whenever they could...they'd jump with me at the big bomb noises and look out wide-eyed as sparkles rained down on the driveway, house, RV and car... I'd just crank music and TV.
I certainly don't want them ingesting any of this debris. One dog is a puppy so I'm going back out to clean up the yards as she chews everything.