Musings: Fireworks can have bad side effects

As a lifelong Long Islander, I am aware that street fireworks and the Fourth of July are synonymous. I absolutely love the Fourth of July. In the 1980s, I also made noise and a mess lighting fireworks. I can’t deny it was fun. However, I am older now and realize all actions have consequences and impact others’ quality of life.

How do veterans in our communities with post-traumatic stress disorder feel on the Fourth and during the weeks before and after? Picture a group of neighbors celebrating with fireworks. They are approached by a member of a family that has a veteran with PTSD, explaining why they would like them to stop lighting fireworks. Would the revelers relent, knowing that the veteran fought to defend our Constitution? Would a veteran hunkered down and terrified, reliving a trauma, receive compassion?

In November, a neighbor and (still) friend lit a firework. Debris fell near my wooden fence. Fortunately, I had just returned home and heard the explosion. Outside my bedroom window, I saw smoke and small flames by a fence with dry leaves. I hosed down the fire, but what if I were not home and the firework debris landed on my gutter with leaves?

Access to illegal fireworks is easy. How can we get fireworks out of the hands of amateurs? Maybe cut the supply and access.

So, who can help start cutting back access? The police, local government, county executives and the governor. Sadly, until a celebrity dies or a lawsuit costs a local government or business substantial sums, nothing will happen.

Let’s address this issue before it’s too late.

— Glen Rose, Holbrook