RICHMOND, Va. -- As Independence Day inched closer, a Richmond woman reached out to the CBS 6 Problem Solvers, saying she'd already endured two months of bombarding fireworks near her home in the Eastview Community. She said the trend started around the same time last year.
This week, the Richmond Fire Department held a press conference to remind the public that fireworks were prohibited in the city except for in permitted public displays conducted by professionals.
"Full-blown fireworks show. We don't even have to go to The Diamond. We can be right here," said the Eastview Community woman, who did not want to be identified.
Her neighborhood was located between Mosby and Whitcomb Courts. She said most of the sound had been coming from Fairfield Way and Accommodation Street.
"They’ve been like cannons, and they’ve been like that ever since May the 1. Memorial Day weekend it sounded like a war zone over here," she said.
On Tuesday night, the Eastview woman captured a recording of the boom and crackle of fireworks she said were shot off between 10 p.m. and midnight.
"Last night it was six times. The first three times were at 10 o'clock. Back-to-back. Three large booms, sounding like a cannon," she said. "And that's why I got my phone and came out and tried to get the noise, which I did. And I saw the fireworks in the sky so I knew they were shooting off rockets."
The woman said she had called police about three times a week for two months and was frustrated the fireworks were continuing.
"I’ve sent an email to my councilwoman and then the lieutenant in the 25th precinct," she said. "Something needs to be done they got to do something about these loud fireworks."
In an email sent from Richmond Police Lt. Mark Sims to the Eastview Community woman, Lt. Sims said the fireworks code wasn't criminally enforceable by the Police Department per the City Attorney’s Office.
Instead, police called on the Fire Marshall to handle the charges.
"There is a penalty for having fireworks in your possession and that penalty as currently stands is a $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail," said Battalion Chief Earl Dyer, Fire Marshall for the City of Richmond.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Dyer outlined the dangers of shooting off fireworks and encouraged anyone looking to report them to reach out to the Fire Department so they could dispatch one of their assistant fire marshals to catch the perpetrator in the act.
"Once we do identify who they are, that they do have the fireworks, then we confiscate the fireworks. And on more than one occasion, we’ve issued summonses for those individuals to appear in court," said Dyer.
The Eastview Community woman said she did plan to reach out to the Richmond Fire Department as the July 4th holiday inched closer.
"It’s not going to be a pleasant holiday for me," she said. "Right now, I'm just upset about it. I really don’t want to be here in my own house."
