Fireworks complaints explode in Zanesville

ZANESVILLE – Deanna Peterson sat on her couch working on her laptop when a loud boom reverberated outside, sending her jumping with panic.

Within another 20 minutes, she said, another five bangs rattled her walls on Echo Street, where she’s lived with her three children for close to five years.

Thinking it was gun shots, she called the police.

“It is nerve wracking because I don’t know whether it’s fireworks or gunshots,” said Peterson, 33. “It kind of threw me off a little bit because I thought if it was fireworks, why are they doing it in the middle of the day?”

Zanesville police confirmed it was fireworks.

It’s that time of year, when Zanesville police prepare for wannabe pyrotechnics looking to have their own private patriotic celebration. Reports of fireworks have skyrocketed in the past week, said Zanesville Police Chief Ken Miller, aggravating area residents who just want peace and quiet.

“Our fireworks calls are going crazy right now,” Miller said. “As we get close to the fourth we’ll see bigger displays.”

Though Zanesville police have not issued any arrests or citations for the offense as of Thursday, they have fielded 13 reports of fireworks being set off in a week, according to police logs.

So far, all of the reports have occurred south of Interstate 70 — Carey Street, Putnam Avenue, Bates Street and Eastview Avenue, for instance.

Police made two arrests last year for the offense of possession, sale or discharge of a firearm, one of which was on July 4.

It’s legal to buy fireworks in Ohio from a licensed manufacturer, so long as the purchaser agrees to take them out of state within 48 hours. Only licensed pyrotechnics with a city permit may set them off, according to the Ohio Revised Code.

First-time offenders could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, which could lead to up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Subsequent violations are fifth-degree felonies, which carry prison time, according to Ohio law.

When police get a call of fireworks being set off, officers will conduct a routine patrol through the area, looking for any suspicious activity, Miller said. It’s often a challenge to nail down a specific block, or even street, where the fireworks were set off. And by the time officers get to the scene, the offender is usually gone.

But in one case on June 28, an officer responded to the 700 block of Bates Street, where he spoke to a male who lived at the address and who admitted to setting off bottle rockets and one firework that had misfired.

After the officer advised the man of multiple complaints, he apologized and said “he would save the fireworks for a later time,” according to the police report.

Police aren’t looking to cite people in these types of cases, Miller said. Rather, officers just want to restore quiet to the area.

“If we pull up and there’s a full-blown fireworks show going on, yes, someone’s probably going to get cited,” Miller said.

As for Peterson, she doesn’t mind fireworks. It’s when the loud noises are absent of any patriotic display that she gets annoyed.

“You expect to see something pretty in the sky and it’s not,” she said. “It’s just a big boom.”

elagatta@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6753

Twitter: @EricLagatta