I recently moved to the St. Louis area for a software job at Boeing. I'm actually in a nice quiet neighborhood in St. Charles right under the flight path for planes landing at Lambert Field.<p>The fireworks last night were insane. All around me folks were setting off commercial grade fireworks bursting hundreds of feet in the air. The house was shaking, my dogs were freaking out, one of them had a seizure. The air was filled with smoke and smelled of gun powder. It was one of the craziest things I've ever experienced.<p>Next year I'll definitely be planning an out-of-town vacation for the 4th to some location with firework restrictions.<p>I don't know what the planes were doing; I didn't hear or see any landing with all the smoke and noise.
Off topic but I went to a local town’s medium-sized professional fireworks show this weekend and there were none of those small flash really loud fireworks that shake you to the core. Not even in the grand finale. Oddly they are what I enjoy most. Have they gone out of fashion or do they mess too much with pets?
I believe those are called "salutes".
You mean mortars ?
They sure haven't gone out of fashion on the streets of SF. My ears were ringing!
I miss those too. I remember as a kid one display that shot a bunch of really bright white flare-like fireworks that were blinding and hung in the sky followed by dozens of those small but loud ones and it was memorable.
They really should be controlled a lot more - a nearby house was hit by some sort of Roman candle thing and completely burned down the other night.<p>There was at least a lot less "illegal fireworks" when people had the drive two states away to buy them.
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Yeah not sure why that changed, when I was a kid you could only get sparklers and small stuff that stayed on the ground. Today I could get everything for a near-professional show if I wanted to spend the money.
When I was a kid you could get actual m80's that were like a quarter stick of dynamite. Now you can only get little firecrackers that don't even blow up little green army men.<p>It's really dependent on your state laws. My state allows fireworks, so you can get most things but they are very limited in size and explosive content.<p>What it amounts to is that most cities/counties don't enforce their existing laws in this area because people would have a shit fit, and they would arrest so many people that it's kind of impossible.<p>Something something banning things doesn't really work to do anything but make criminals out of every day people.
> actual m80's that were like a quarter stick of dynamite<p>Not even close.<p>A military M80 [0] is ~5g of flash powder, an inconsequential amount of low-explosive albeit enough to seriously injure yourself. The consumer "M80" are even weaker. These are used to simulate real explosions by the military.<p>The smallest standardized military demolition charge contains ~110g of TNT, in a similar small cylindrical format. There are multiple orders of magnitude difference in power between an M80 and these demolition charges.<p>A "quarter stick of dynamite" isn't a standard thing. But if it was, it would probably come in around 50g of TNT equivalent.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-80_(explosive)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-80_(explosive)</a>
M80s were more like 1/8th of a stick, I think. My uncle bought quarter sticks of dynamite one time. Wow. Quite a bit bigger and louder than an M80, and M80s were LOUD! My dad's cousin blew off most of his thumb and parts of several fingers with one. It was old, and it had a flash fuse. He was planning to toss it, but it went off instantly. (Don't hold fireworks when you are lighting them.)<p>A couple of years ago my brother got some flat triangles from a guy on the side of the road. First thing I've seen in years that was like an M80. We put a flat soccer ball over one, and it went 50 feet in the air. Very fun.
> Today I could get everything for a near-professional show if I wanted to spend the money.<p>Not unless you're purchasing on the black market or (illegally) manufacturing it yourself.† The professional stuff is substantially larger than anything sold on the consumer market.<p>† Which is surprisingly trivial to do BTW but please be extremely cautious and <i>very thoroughly</i> master the underlying theory if you decide to go that route.
I'm not sure if being homemade was the reason, but I just heard about a medflight for somebody hit by a homemade firework.<p>I say this as somebody with a <i>book</i> on how to make them, but I've always been a bit too scared to try.
Did you move? There are huge differences between states in what’s available, all the way from “just sparklers and other tiny stuff that doesn’t fly” up to “anything that doesn’t require an explosives license”, and within states areas near cities often restrict fireworks sales.
Capitalism. Get rich or die trying.
Rather than regulate fireworks out of existence wouldn't it be better to fix the problem at the root? Why do we permit such fire prone housing to be built just to save a few dollars?
Anti-aircraft artillery...
<i>Delta said Sunday a post-flight inspection showed no damage to the aircraft.</i><p>Not surprising, as a firework is designed to disintegrate and the outer surface of a plane is not flammable. Bird strikes are probably a higher risk.
Fun fact: “Midway” is also the name of an American manufacturer of video and pinball games, and a Pacific theater of war in World War II, the most important victory in US Naval history. (The airport took this name in July 1949, according to the English Wikipedia.)<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080414001228if_/http://www.flychicago.com/news/pdf/MDWVisitorsGuide2005Revised.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://web.archive.org/web/20080414001228if_/http://www.fly...</a><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Cup_Soccer_(pinball)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Cup_Soccer_(pinball)</a><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Tigers_(video_game)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Tigers_(video_game)</a><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampage_(video_game)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampage_(video_game)</a><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_2:_Judgment_Day_(arcade_game)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_2:_Judgment_Day_(ar...</a><p>It’s also the name of a district/neighborhood of San Diego which takes its name from Midway Drive, particularly where it intersects with Rosecrans St.<p>Okay, “Midway” is a lot of things.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway</a>
Am I the only one who thinks the risks are worth the reward? People are celebrating, kids are having fun. Yes a few people blow their hands off, but are we going to remove everything, one by one, in the name of safety?
Come on, it’s not a choice between complete anarchy and complete restriction.<p>It is very, very fair for society to be like “hm I think X activity is easy to abuse in a way that hurts innocent bystanders,” and then limits the activity to people with licenses and training or things like that.<p>Like no, it’s totally not cool to give a free pass to people who are putting other people’s lives and homes at risk. How would you feel if your house burned down because your neighbor did something stupid?<p>I don’t care if it’s just your own life at risk. But you’re essentially saying that people should be free to <i>play around with explosive devices</i> in dense city neighborhoods. Fuck no, it’s fucking concerning to have an explosion rattle your windows. The people most likely to do this shit in the streets have no clue what they’re doing.
> How would you feel if your house burned down because your neighbor did something stupid?<p>Probably the same way I'd feel if it burned down because my neighbor did some other stupid thing, like drive into it with a truck or try stealing electricity. There would be many feelings probably, but none of them would be "trucks/DIY should be illegal".
You are arguing against a straw man. It was never claimed or even implied that society can't or shouldn't regulate activities that cause harm. The cost benefit tradeoff in this specific instance was called into question and the broader implications of a consistent application of the same bar across all of society was inquired about.<p>> you’re essentially saying that people should be free to play around with explosive devices in dense city neighborhoods. Fuck no, it’s fucking concerning to have an explosion rattle your windows.<p>This is nothing more than emotional grandstanding. You could construct similar rants against a canister of gas or bottle of starter fluid. Obviously how you use the thing is important.<p>Lest you miss my point or think I miss the mark there are video footage of clueless people nearly killing themselves and others through entirely avoidable mishaps with gasoline abound.<p>The question is the amount of knowledge and judgment required, the likelihood of mishap, and the size of the consequences when one inevitably happens. Regulation needs to balance these things against utility and personal freedom.
You're not the only one. There are few things I hate more than safetyists.
I loved playing with fireworks as a kid, and surprisingly have all appendages and senses intact, I even considered pyro as a job - so I definitely get the appeal.<p>I just think it's time that we left it to the professionals. Unless you are engaging in science or physics, I don't see the value in letting them off yourself.<p>~~It's also weird that America's birthday is celebrated using a Chinese invention.~~ Edit: bad point, I stand corrected.
> It's also weird that America's birthday is celebrated using a Chinese invention.<p>Not really. America is an amalgamation of all the countries and cultures that emigrated to it. It’s one of the best things about it.
That’s such a strange thing to say. Should we only use things invented in the last 300 years on the 4th of July?
Now I wonder who invented wheat, or sugar (used to make cake)?<p>Also hotdogs are made with Wiener sausages, which are from...
> Now I wonder who invented [...] sugar (used to make cake)?<p>If you're talking about the refined product, then India. If you're talking about the plant, then New Guinea and Taiwan.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sugar" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sugar</a>
beef or pork if you’re lucky
Das Auge ist (man) mit.
I tried tofu dogs for the first time on the grill, they were pretty good.
In the production of these hotdogs no animals were harmed!
Austria! nothing bad came from Austria
No more using the English language, either.
<a href="https://youtu.be/YPX__g3LpUY?t=9" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/YPX__g3LpUY?t=9</a>
You literally just explained the value.
Fell free to leave it to the professionals then. That has always been your right.
> I just think it's time that we left it to the professionals.<p>Pulling up the ladder behind you, eh? So nice of you to think of the children.
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I concur, this would be good for developing cheap drone warfare capabilities. I mean, I love loud explosions and the sound of freedom because I'm not a wuss, but we need to get our drone game on China's level.
Drones have their own failure mode <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-27/sydney-vivid-festival-drone-failure-explainer/106724050" rel="nofollow">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-27/sydney-vivid-festival...</a>
This is almost certain to backfire. Better: make drone shows more available, and maybe subsidise them with a tax on fireworks.
freedom loving Democratic socialist here, this stance is very St Thomas Aquinas of you. let people continue to do the things you did without pulling up the ladder behind you. it's just for a night or two, the animals will live.
Pollution too.<p>Microbits of plastic, atmospheric smoke, splintered pieces of wood, wildfires.
Ban keeping animals and replace them with robots or animal films.<p>Barking dogs cause far more irritation than the nightly fireworks in June and July.<p>Plus, the animals would not have to suffer.
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You've never seen Berlin on New Year's Eve then. Residents are recommended to keep all windows tightly closed or a firework may slip inside!
How is this relevant? No one shot at the plane.
Later wars too [1].<p>[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron,_Blues_and_Royals_friendly_fire_incident" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190th_Fighter_Squadron,_Blues_...</a>