Akron-area residents sound off about abundance of homespun fireworks displays over holiday

It was a Star-Spangled Banner year for fireworks this Fourth of July. Not so much for Fido or those who like to go to sleep early.

The rockets' red glare was bursting in air all across northern Ohio this long holiday weekend, with the state in recent years joining the chorus of others across the country in relaxing rules on common folks shooting off fireworks from their yards.

Some frustrated Greater Akron residents turned to social media to blast those who celebrated the nation's independence with too much zeal and with fireworks that rivaled community displays.

"Why do so many neighbors apparently get them by the pallet and continue to shoot them off for hours at a time until well past midnight?" one Akron resident asked on Reddit.

One Akronite said the celebratory salvos in their neighborhood started at 6 a.m.

Another shell-shocked Akron resident agreed that enough was enough.

"We have a 5 month old who’s having trouble sleeping already, a wife with PTSD, a cat with anxiety and me who is sitting here like 🤦🏻‍♂️ (emoji of a frustrated person)," another poster replied. "I like going to see the sparkly boom booms but not having them disrupt the household 😩 (frowning emoji).

The thunderous skies were not limited to just Akron.

The homespun displays sparked by the fairly recent proliferation of fireworks stores in northern Ohio spread to the skies of Akron suburbs and beyond.

At-large Stow Councilman Kyle Herman said he saw a lot of online chatter about the number of fireworks going off in his city.

But under Stow's current rules, Herman said, it was legal to shoot them.

"It was legal, but I would ask residents to be respectful and to think about how their actions effect others in the community," he said.

He added that he has tried to pass legislation to ban such fireworks in the city but has not been able to muster the support of his fellow council members.

Hudson City Council President Chris Foster said he, too, saw rumblings on social media about the fireworks — but no one contacted him personally to complain.

"We haven't gotten any formal complaints or emails at all," Foster said. "I probably got more complaints four years ago than I got this year.

"Four years ago, they generally weren't permitted, so people would call."

One person in Medina County commented on Facebook that his dogs weren't too bothered by the booms, but his horses were spooked.

"The whole weekend in our area was like a battle of fireworks," he said. "I was surrounded by them."

A Medina resident commented that it looked like World War III had started in the city with all the fireworks going off in neighborhoods.

Akron Ward 6 Councilman Brad McKitrick said just one resident in his Ellet neighborhood reached out to complain about the fireworks — but McKitrick did see a lot of chatter online.

He reminds residents that while the state permits them being set off, Akron does not.

He said these homegrown fireworks displays have had unfortunate results in the past.

"We've had situations where we've had house fires because people were not cautious with setting off their fireworks, and it's truly a public safety issue," McKitrick said.

Greater Akron police departments respond to fireworks complaints

As dogs scurried for cover and hid under beds, local police departments fielded fireworks-related calls.

Akron Police Department Sgt. Michael Murphy said via email that since July 1 the department received exactly 100 calls about fireworks — more than the previous three years combined.

About one-third of those calls, he said, came between July 4 and 5.

"It appears as though the calls are coming in throughout the city and are not limited to any specific areas," Murphy said.

Looking back at five years of firework-related complaints in Akron, the highest complaints over the Fourth holiday came in 2020.

• 2019 : 49 complaints.

• 2020: 203 complaints.

• 2021: 18 complaints.

• 2022: 20 complaints.

• 2023: 28 complaints.

Fairlawn police said they fielded just three fireworks-related complaints.

The Summit County Sheriffs Office said it didn't have an unusual number of fireworks-related calls.

Barberton police had 61 fireworks-related calls between July 1 to July 7 − with a fair number actually traced to neighboring Norton.

"Usually, we average 30, 40 calls," said Barberton Police spokesman Marty Eberhart.

The number of calls was up in Copley Township too.

"It was worse than it was last year," said Police Chief Michael Mier. "More complaints and more activity."

Mier said he plans to work with township trustees to curb the problem of folks setting off fireworks without permission on private property and too close to homes and even senior centers and apartments.

"We're going to do something," he said.

Akron Children's Hospital reported just one outpatient fireworks-related injury.

The more serious incident happened in southern Medina County.

The sheriff's department said it responded to a call early Sunday morning in which a man, whose identity was not released, had a firework blow up in his hand in Homer Township.

The man lost two fingers and damaged others.

Deputies were able to find one of the missing fingers, with the hope that doctors at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland could attempt to reattach it.

There was no update readily available on the man's condition.

And on Saturday night, a 39-year-old Medina man was injured in Valley City when he was hit in the eye by a firework.

What are the rules for setting off fireworks in Ohio?

The first rule of thumb — if you want to keep it intact — of fireworks is to leave it to the professionals.

But Ohio — like other states — has relaxed its rules for home displays of fireworks.

The good news for the fireworks haters is Ohio's window for shooting them off for the Fourth has closed.

Here are the times when it is legal in the state to shoot off fireworks.

● New Year’s Day (midnight-1 a.m.; 4.-11 p.m.)

● Chinese New Year.

● Cinco de Mayo.

● Memorial Day weekend, last Monday in May and the Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding that day.

● Juneteenth (June 19).

● July 3, 4, and 5, and the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday immediately before and after July 4.

● Labor Day weekend, the first Monday of September and the Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding that Monday.

● Diwali.

● New Year’s Eve (4-11:59 p.m.)

A handful of cities including Akron, Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls and Wadsworth decided to buck state lawmakers and keep a ban on residents shooting off fireworks.

Were there more fireworks going off this year?

The question of whether there were more fireworks going off this Fourth is not so simple to answer.

Like anything, it depends on where you live and just how adventurous your neighbors are.

But chances are... yes it is very likely your house was rocking a bit more this year.

Based on statistics by the American Pyrotechnics Association that keeps track of such things and promotes the setting off all things that go boom, Americans' love affair with fireworks has grown over the years thanks in part to more relaxed state laws.

In 2000, American consumers spent a collective $400 million to purchase 102 million pounds of fireworks.

The number of fireworks consumed and shot off has grown in the ensuing years.

By 2023, the sales of fireworks in the U.S. skyrocketed to $2.2 billion with 246.5 million pounds purchased.

And these figures do not include the money spent on professional fireworks set off by the professionals at community and sporting events.

Julie L. Heckman, executive director of the APA, said the industry is on pace to see a record $2.4 billion spent by consumers on fireworks this year.

And they expected consumers firing off fireworks to "hit an all-time high this year" around the Fourth since it fell on a Thursday leading into a long holiday weekend.

What fireworks are legal in Ohio?

Residents are allowed (on the permitted days) to discharge 1.4G of consumer-grade fireworks that were purchased in the state from a licensed fireworks sales location.

The American Pyrotechnics Association, says 1.4G fireworks — known as Class C fireworks — have 50 mg of explosives in them and are about the size of half an aspirin tablet.

Ohio residents are not allowed to purchase or discharge 1.3G display-grade fireworks or display fireworks that are shot off by licensed professionals at large community fireworks shows.

So-called cherry bombs, M-80s, M-100s, and silver salutes are also banned illegal explosives in the state.

Reporters Derek Kreider and April Helms contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Homespun fireworks displays boom Akron area during Fourth of July week