Fireworks!

When I was young, my dad was a fire fighter and he would come home after Halloween talking about all the children injured by fireworks he dealt with.  There were some who lost a finger!  Others would get badly burned.   Over the years they've made fireworks safer and banned the dangerous ones.

We lived in Richmond for over forty years.  Every Halloween the City would do a fabulous fireworks display at Minoru Park.   This year four more community parks held fireworks displays.   Fireworks are banned in Richmond and we never had a problem with huge illegal street fireworks.

In 2005 Surrey, where I live, they banned the sale and use of fireworks.  You can apply for a permit if you want to discharge them.  The permit must be applied for five days before the event, proof of liability insurance of $2,000,000 and they may do a site inspection.  You must have a qualified first aid attendant and notify the RCMP of all the details.  The permit is issued by the fire department.

On Sunday, Diwali was celebrated.  Fireworks here started at 7 PM and didn't stop until after 10.  There were over 200 noise calls to the RCMP, and I didn't complain.  Last night the fireworks started just after seven and by 9:30 it felt like we were in Syria.  So much for the by law they passed.  It will be interesting to hear how many calls the RCMP logged and how many people were fined.  I doubt any of the "street" fireworks I've listened to over the past few days have a permit.  They went on until after 12;30 AM, then I fell asleep! 

I worry about all the family pets who were freaked by the noise.