We live in an old apartment. In fact, this little triplex just turned 101 years old this year. That means really old dry wood. It’s very charming but also SUPER flammable.
We also live above a hardware store. A hardware store that sells propane gas tanks for BBQs. These are stored in the back of the building in a locked area in the parking lot.
Needless to say, I spend a few minutes each week worrying about the effect a little fire would have on our place.
Last night, I was lying in bed watching old episodes of Hawaii 5-0 and DR was playing Infamous on the PS3 in the living room when all of a sudden, we heard this really loud crack and saw this flash of light through the closed curtains… I jumped up out of bed and took a look outside. Yep, it was a firework that blew up above our apartment and landed on the roof top. I quickly threw some clothes on and made my way outside. There in the alley way, 3 drunk teenagers were playing with fireworks, leaning them against the wall of the hardware store, wishing and hoping they’d get to fly straight up I guess. They were standing less than 40 feet from the propane gas tanks.
DR came behind me to investigate and quickly got on the phone with the police while I had visions of getting a 4 x 4 and knocking some sense into the assholes of our future. As I went back inside to cool off, he witnessed one of the firework falling on the ground after it was lit and fly directly into the front door of a dry cleaner business across the way. A drunkish neighbour thought it was the funniest thing she ever saw. She must be living in a cement house.
The police never came that we know of, but the fireworks did finally run out.
All through the rest of the evening, we could hear cracks and booms around the neighbourhood, and couldn’t really fall back to sleep for a long time.
This morning when I got up, the first news items was about a bus driver in the north end of the city who stopped at a regular stop to pick up a passenger who in turn only light up a firework and threw it at the driver.
So fun.
I am writing a letter to our city councilor to ban fireworks in our part of town, the city already pays of an enormous display in the beaches area, maybe she can spring for a couple of buses to take her idiotic constituents to that location.
