Fireworks for the Fourth
Never let it be said that all news is bad news. This time of year, much of the news seems to be centered around happy things like parades, picnics, fireworks and outdoor concerts with patriotic overtones.
And in case you missed the published version of the comprehensive list of local events to celebrate the Fourth of July, go to this link to see what's planned in your community.
Especially check the rain dates. Some firework displays might be rained out on the 4th with thunderstorms in the forecast.
Susan LoTempio is the Readership Editor at The News, and as such, is well versed in what
readers like and dislike about their hometown newspaper.
I wonder why South Buffalo is allowed to look and sound like a war zone on Independence Day. That's right, from about dusk to the wee hours of the morning. Law enforcement seems to turn blind eyes and deaf ears. Or maybe attempts are made to quell, but the number of offenders are overwhelming. It's difficult to fathom why there has not been effective public outcry from reasonable residents of that neighborhood. Are Fire Department officials not duly concerned? I'm originally from that area of the city, and it was not like that even 20 years ago. I now reside in another part of town, where there's nothing to approximate the folly ongoing in South Buffalo. What a perilous holiday for those who live or visit that part of town! One shutters to think of the arsenals stored in folks' homes and garages. I witnessed a little boy about to engage a firecracker near parked cars (out of ignorance), and I deterred him just in time. His parents were home, no less! That's probably not uncharacteristic. My experience is about 4 years old, but my understanding is that chaos still prevails in South Buffalo on this holiday. Any supportive feedback on this one? Or have changes on behalf of safety been enacted since my vivid experience?
Posted by: Marilyn Smith | July 02, 2008 at 12:20 PM
I, too, am angry that these local TV stations have been accepting advertising for fireworks. I suggest that everyone who agrees email, call or write to these stations, and register your complaint. Nothing will change without our making the effort.
A few years ago, a guy on the East Side had a vacant building in the Walden-Bailey area filled to the rafters with illegal fireworks, as well as some other explosives and even old paint cans! Someone apparently tipped off the cops and the place was raided. They said that if the building had caught fire, the entire block would have gone up, and that's no exaggeration. I know the area and it is filled with old wood-frame houses, and arson is not unheard of. There would have been numerous deaths and injuries.
A kid on my old street (Walden-Bailey area again) blew off a couple of fingers when he lit a quarter stick of dynamite and then panicked and tried to put it out...not realizing that you CAN'T stop that fuse once lit.
Does anyone remember how, a couple of years ago, fireworks started a house fire and when the fire dept responded, some idiots on the street began to throw things at the firefighters trying to save the house?
Fireworks are bad news unless you are trained and qualifed to use them.
Posted by: Kitty | July 18, 2007 at 10:33 AM
Add another illegal fireworks story that caused a major fire in New York City. A young fellow who has been charged with setting the firecracker that burnt down the building. He said that he found the firecrackers in the street. That sounds like finding heroin on a street abnd bringing it to a pre school.
Again Buffalo was lucky this year. In sections of Buffalo both the fireworks and car base problem have grown beyond what is safe and reasonble. Buffalo mayhem now includes rooster and dog fighting, extremely loud base from passing cars, and massive illegal fireworks shows that endanger citizens and firefighters lives.
There was absolutely zero coverage of the massive 4 July 2007 illegal fireworks shows that took place in the City of Buffalo for two days and nights and destroyed any sense of quality of life and put residents at extreme risk of losing their homes and apartments for fireworks orgies.
Posted by: West of Jesus | July 08, 2007 at 03:08 PM
WGRZ and WKBW television and Lamar Advertising are directly involved in making our community unsafe on the Fourth of July. These television stations should have their licenses pulled. The management of these business operations should be indicted for conspiring to break New York State public safety law.
It was because of the rain on Independence Day that Buffalo dodged a the giant bullet of illegal fireworks.
The entire West Side south of Forest Ave was enveloped in a cloud of spent gun powder on the night of 4 July. For two day and nights on 3 and 4 July our quality of life was a constant sound of explosions.
The illegal fireworks did set house fires in both Lackawanna and in Rochester. A volunteer firefighter in the Cleveland area killed three people that kept firing off fireworks next to his home. All there incidents are wrong and just examplifies how things got out of order through illegal fireworks in areas surrounding Buffalo.
At the corner of Niagara and Rhode Island there was the largest orgy of pyrotechnics that I have ever witnessed. What went on there surpassed the fireworks show in Riverside Park.
There are underground fireworks businesses that spring up every year in our community. They import fireworks from Pennsylvania. There is a man in the vacinity of West Ave and West Delavan in Buffalo who imports fireworks and sells them to the community every year. There are others like him all over the city now.
On the Fourth of July in parts of the City we have to now guard our homes with garden hoses. The law and the City of Buffalo has failed us and is in the pocket of corrupt business. The government and WKBW and WGRZ and Lamar Advertising have turned against the people and sane public safety.
Geary street is no different than any other street in Buffalo. They can't have selective non enforcement of public safety laws in Buffalo. I bet those people walked over the law like Scooter Libby did.
The government and the laws are a joke. Judge Penny Wolfgang allowed a violent criminal to send a Buffalo teacher from Grovor Cleveland High School to the hospital. This low, life criminal gave this poor women a boxing match punch up on York and Porter Ave. This felon got a Paris Hilton sentence that was short and inappropriate to the crime that was commited. This is another example of the law failing public safety. On top of that this poor teacher was denied a workers disablity. There is no adequate parking at Grover Cleveland High School for the teachers that work there. This neighborhood harbors lawlessness and part of it is sanctioned by WKBW and WGRZ Television, Lamar Advertising and the government of the City of Buffalo.
What happened to that school teacher is no different than Buffalo Police Officers Parate and Andolina getting wrongfully shot or Buffalo Firefighter getting a chimney to the body because of hoousing laws that are not enforced. When a house in Buffalo catches fire on the Fourth of July because of Pennsylvania fireworks it's the exact same story.
This is just some of Ole Buffalo Crime Week that we have been celibrating for two years now where the politicans and news media don't live.
Posted by: West of Jesus | July 07, 2007 at 11:55 AM
In my community, the rain didn't stop the illegal fireworks which were more like a military training exercise. Thank god it rained before the barrage ensued, so we didn't have another fire in the area. Why don't the police randomly target a subdivision each year and clean this up? The law is a joke!
Posted by: luddite | July 05, 2007 at 04:29 PM