Every July 4 is the same tradition, Americans celebrate their national holiday with grand fireworks across the country. But this year, some did not wait for Independence Day to light the wick. From New York to Boston to San Francisco, there is not an evening without dozens of rockets and firecrackers exploding in the streets. So why are there so many fireworks these days?
“We have actually seen an increase in sales”says Joe Van Oudenhove, general manager of Sky King Fireworks, a fireworks chain with several stores in Pennsylvania. The professional explains that many of his clients come from New York and New Jersey, two states where the sale and use of these pyrotechnic devices is prohibited. "People are finally free to move after being confined for weeks, and they are ready to drive to come here to buy fireworks." The widespread and intensive use of fireworks would therefore be a way of breaking the boredom associated with Coronavirus, since “Everything related to fun and entertainment has been canceled”, says Joe Van Oudenhove. “We are also a patriotic and resilient nation. Many regions are reopening after difficult months, and people just want to celebrate that ”, adds the entrepreneur.
In New York, the demand for fireworks is so strong that a parallel market has developed. "I chatted with two of my neighbors who are coming back from a barbecue in Pennsylvania. There, it's a firework bought, two offered. They came back with a big load and offered to buy me some ”, explained New York journalist Hannah Sheehan, who lives in Brooklyn in the Flatbush neighborhood on June 22. The subject fascinates the American media. The New Yorker interviewed a dealer on June 29, who said he bought fireworks for $ 1,200 in Pennsylvania before reselling them at twice the price around Brooklyn. "Money is coming in well right now", says the man, who remains anonymous. “People have always celebrated firecrackers. But this year, they are going strong. They need to go out too much ”.
The daily rocket and firecracker explosions get on the nerves of many Americans. In New York, the city recorded 13,109 noise complaints in June, up from just 30 in the same month last year. In Boston, authorities received nearly 8,000 calls in the same period, 2,700 in San Francisco. The illegal use of fireworks can sometimes go wrong. A three-year-old boy was severely burned in the Bronx district of New York after a rocket jet entered the open window of his bedroom the night of June 24. Ditto in Cleveland, where a 21-year-old young man is between life and death after exploding fireworks near his face on June 23.
Some Americans prefer conspiracy theories rather than trying to understand why fireworks are exploding all over the United States right now. Among them, rapper Wale from Washington, who tweeted on June 20 to its six million subscribers that “Too many people complain about fireworks at the same time in several cities. Something is happening". "My neighbors and I believe this is part of a coordinated police attack on black and colored communities", novelist Robert Jones Jr. tweeted the next day, referring to the Black Livers Matter protests in New York. "They want to destabilize and disorient the movement". The American author has since deleted his tweets.
