DEARBORN — For many, the sounds of explosions in residential neighborhoods over the Fourth of July weekend could’ve easily been mistaken for a war zone. 

 “They were going crazy… all I heard was boom boom-boom the whole time,” said Dearborn resident Abed Koubeissi. “When it gets dark at around 9 p.m., it’s non stop fireworks until the early morning.” 

Ever since the state passed a measure that allowed the selling and usage of consumer fireworks, local communities have had to deal with a growing nuisance of fireworks mania.

Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, many communities issued a ban on fireworks usage due to concerns of dry weather. Dearborn city officials considered that option, but ultimately decided to only issue a warning.

“We considered striking a balance by warning people,” said Police Chief Ron Haddad. “We didn’t feel it was serious enough to totally cancel all the use of fireworks. I think people appeared to use better judgment. The numbers are substantially down.”

Last year, from May 22-July 5, the city received 649 calls from disgruntled residents who were complaining about fireworks being discharged in their neighborhoods.

This year, during that same period, the city received 430 calls.

Fireworks usage is only permitted the day before, day of and day after a national holiday. Residents who were cited for breaking the law in Dearborn were issued a hefty $500 civil infraction tickets. 

Despite the number of complaints decreasing, this year the city did issue more tickets, 45 compared to 19 last year. Haddad said two of the citations involved minors using fireworks in the neighborhood streets. 

He added that this year, the city increased patrolling in the neighborhoods over the Fourth of July weekend, which may have resulted in more violations. However, he believes that overall, fireworks usage has declined compared to last year.

“We did put extra patrols specifically for the fireworks,” Haddad said. “We did educate the public with Nixle warnings, on TV and with the city website. The fire chief also gave a warning on the dryness in the community. All of those things combined resulted in fewer fireworks this year. Some people who don’t like them will complain, and they did. My observation was that it was a milder use this year. I think many in the community honored the warning and decided not to engage.”

Despite firework usage being down, many residents have been frustrated with the pandemonium keeping them on high alert. If it’s not the sound of explosions, then it’s the sound of crowds causing a ruckus.

With Eid festivities kicking in immediately after the Fourth of July, minors and young adults have stayed up until the early hours discharging their fireworks. 

Dearborn resident Maya Hachem told The AANews that her one-month-old child is constantly awakened by the noise.

“It’s so irritating,” Hachem said. “It’s been too much. Some of them that go off sound like bombs. I’m around a newborn and my nieces and nephews and the noise is scary to them because it sounds like an explosion.”

Hachem said that many teens and young adults are using larger than life fireworks that rocket into the air and explode. She said she would prefer those types of fireworks be banned, but she wouldn’t have a problem with smaller pyrotechnics such as firecrackers or sparklers. 

“They should only be selling the smaller ones with no sound,” she said. “They need to outlaw the ones that sound like bombs. They are scary and dangerous.” 

According to Haddad, there were no injuries over the Fourth of July Weekend, but the Dearborn Fire Department did respond to two incidents involving fires on front lawns as a result of fireworks usage.