Photo credit: Magda Ehlers from Pexels
by Jan L. Mayes, MSc, Audiologist
A recent article reports that people in Canada have been setting off more fireworks during the pandemic, and people are fed up with the noise. Listed fireworks dangers include risk of serious personal injury and property damage from fires. Danger has been highlighted by the death of an NHL goaltender for the Columbia Blue Jackets who was hit by fireworks during a July 4th celebration earlier this month.
Rising fireworks popularity is blamed on boredom, and residents unaware of city fireworks rules or bans. While there are fines for illegal use, people setting off fireworks in parks, streets, or parking lots are typically long gone before any enforcement officer arrives.
In my region of Canada, we’re not bored enough to set off fireworks. I live in British Columbia, the most western province. There haven’t been any increased fireworks in my community, perhaps because wildfires are now common every year. Many are currently raging in B.C., destroying homes and communities, with wildfire risk also high in Washington State, Oregon, and California.
When I’m out and about in my neighborhood, I look at the brown grasses and tinder dry trees. Hoping nobody around here is bored enough to set off fireworks that might trigger another wildfire.
Jan L. Mayes is an international Eric Hoffer Award winning author in Non-Fiction Health. She is also a science enthusiast and newly retired audiologist still specializing in noise, tinnitus-hyperacusis, and hearing health. You can read more of Jan’s work at her site, www.janlmayes.com.
