Fun for many, misery for some

As the sound of war-like booms scatters throughout the atmosphere and shakes the foundation of households nearby, Frank Macias immediately begins to get cold chills throughout his body. As his daughter describes it, sweat begins to drip from his pores, and he has no choice but to take refuge under a table or, as he did in the past, the backyard slide.
Outside, people are having the time of their lives celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, recording the colorful lights with their smartphones. Meanwhile, Macias is in 1964, seemingly transported back to the explosions and familiar terrain of the Vietnam War during his youth as an Air Force member.

Fireworks might seem like such a trivial topic– perhaps not one that would conjure up so much controversy– but Signal Hill and Long Beach residents have been more vocal than ever in recent years about what they see as a constant bombardment of illegal activity. Indeed, all fireworks, even those that are dubbed “safe and sane,” are illegal in both cities. However, that has not stopped many from purchasing them outside city limits and bringing the noise to the area.
“The flashing lights and booms [do] trigger [post-traumatic stress disorder] in veterans and combat veterans, and even people who suffer from PTSD generally,” said Gina Macias-Overholt, Veterans Affairs Coordinator with the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, in a phone interview Tuesday, about her father, Macias. “Just thinking back, I remember my dad just going white knuckles, cold and sweaty, and hiding under our slide when we had a playground in the back yard. When it was the Fourth of July, I just had no idea what the heck was going on. He would just kind of freeze up and hide.”

Macias, 74, a north Las Vegas resident who grew up in Ventura, has what he calls “100-percent PTSD.” After concluding his military service in 1968, the PTSD began building up and getting worse. He couldn’t sleep, and all he could remember were the friends he lost during the war, namely his friends Sgt. Green and Sgt. Perkins, and the explosive, combat-like setting. Macias said in a phone interview this week that nearby crackling fireworks aren’t a problem, but the ones that are shot up in the air and engulf the sky have a profound effect on him.
“‘Is it incoming? Is it not?’ Things like that,” he said. “It just takes me right back there (the war), and you realize that you’re not there, you’re here. […] It’s an instantaneous, vivid thing. That’s what I think PTSD is.”
Nick Davenport, operations lieutenant with the Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD), told the Signal Tribune Wednesday that all fireworks are illegal per the city’s municipal code and state law. As is the case with many holidays, there are upticks in nuisance crimes and complaints, such as loud parties with friends or families. Davenport said the “true crime” numbers from last year’s Fourth of July were surprisingly low, and they included arrests for driving under the influence (DUI), a hit-and-run and public intoxication on alcohol and drugs. Through a Office of Traffic Safety grant, two SHPD officers will patrol the city this Fourth of July for the purpose of DUI enforcement. Officers are also constantly responding to illegal-fireworks calls.
“Residents will typically call in, and we’ll attempt to locate whoever is setting off the fireworks, as long as they are in the city of Signal Hill,” he said. “We take action if we can find them. I believe the frustration level is simply when you can’t see somebody committing the act of setting off a firework. It’s very hard to pinpoint where they’re coming from. So, the repetition of someone setting them off the day before, the day of and the day after can certainly be frustrating for the residents. We can issue them a misdemeanor citation only if we see it occur in our presence– that’s the difference with a misdemeanor crime, it’s that the officer has to actually see it in order to issue the citation. The fine is a misdemeanor and can be up to a $1,000 fine.”
Hilltop Park is also closed to all vehicles every Fourth of July. The streets are usually closed off at 6pm, notably at Cherry Avenue and Burnett Street and the skyline that takes drivers up to the park. On average, 3,000 people walk to Hilltop Park to see the distant fireworks, all from professional and legal shows that occur at places such as the Queen Mary, Davenport said.
Ana Jimenez, community-services coordinator with the Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD), has been working closely with City of Long Beach departments and community groups in recent months to address the issue. About two weeks ago, Jimenez, LBFD public-information officer Jake Heflin and LBFD Fire Chief Mike DuRee met with Macias-Overholt and Gustavo Orozco, chair of the Long Beach Veterans Commission, at LBFD headquarters to discuss the impact fireworks have on veterans.
Their efforts are an attempt to try and “change the narrative” about illegal fireworks and develop a campaign to create public awareness. One of the suggested ideas was to create signs with messages to place on homes that read, “Combat veteran lives here. Please be mindful of fireworks.” or, “Fireworks are illegal. Be mindful of neighbors.”
“We have had meetings with all constituents of the city and talked about how they can support efforts regarding veterans and PTSD and from the animal-care side,” Jimenez told the Signal Tribune Wednesday. “[…] That’s an effort that’s ongoing right now, and we hope to get that out pretty soon to get the community to support that effort.”

Orozco, a veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2007, has been on the receiving end of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A rocket attack also destroyed part of the building where he and his unit were staying. Having experienced the carnage of war first-hand, the vivid memories of those days still resonate with Orozco, and the occasional pop of a firework will trigger something within him.
“Sometimes, when I’m half asleep or something, and I hear a large explosion, it’s not necessarily a flashback, but it’s definitely something that triggers an adrenaline rush, and it’s kind of uncomfortable at times,” he told the Signal Tribune Monday. “I think that can be associated with my experiences with the military. That’s one of the reasons why I feel so passionate about this, because I am affected, and it’s just uncomfortable. I’m sure other veterans who haven’t been as vocal feel some sort of discomfort or even might be worse than that. It might be full-on panic attacks or something.”
The conversation at LBFD headquarters weeks ago was the first discussion about fireworks the commission and department had in months, according to Orozco. The dialogue initially began in March to brainstorm solutions, but other circumstances arose that halted progress.
“That’s why we feel like we kind of dropped the ball a bit, because we let the conversation be dormant for a couple months,” Orozco said. “Now, I think that this year the plan is to create these lawn signs, start creating awareness, start bringing the conversation into open air […] so that hopefully next year, around this time, we’ll have something more than just lawn signs or something more than just conversations between organizations. We want to bring multiple organizations into this conversation and develop into something larger.”
Orozco also said a solution for illegal fireworks will probably be found at the state level, and it begins with starting the conversation with local commissioners and councilmembers and working upward.
“After that, I think that […] people [should] start to consider their neighbors and start to consider that maybe these fireworks that might entertain us for a couple of seconds might be having the opposite effect on our neighbors,” he said.
One of those neighbors is Steffen Cook, 43, a Wrigley-area resident. Cook initially took to Facebook to address his concern about illegal fireworks. He said he spends hours on end trying to console his dog, who responds erratically to the Fourth of July celebrations.
“I’d like to say from the outset, I’m not somebody who is a killjoy,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “I want people to have their fun. I like to have fun. But, what I said in my original statement is that […] I can handle a few bangs or cracks, but my animals and [those] all over the neighborhood have a really bad time. And, more importantly, I do happen to know, […] he requested that I didn’t mention his name, but I know there is a combat veteran that lives very, very close to where I live. He has told me on many occasions how he grabs the blankets and the duvets from his bed, wraps himself up in them and retreats to the bathroom in his house, because that is the most soundproofed room that he has in his house. And, he shakes and cries because he has flashbacks and real bad PTSD. One crack of a firework is seconds of joy for someone, but it’s hours and hours of misery for others.”
To protect his dog from the ruckus, Cook crafted makeshift plyboard shutters with soundproofed foam glued to them to cover his windows. Although not keen on medicating his dog, he said it’s become a necessity, since no other universally suggested solution, such as turning on white noise, raising the volume on the TV or radio, producing pleasant smells through candles, has worked.
“I happen to know that, last year, dogs in the neighborhood were escaping from yards,” he said. “You’d have owners running all around the neighborhood looking for their lost pets, because they would be so terrified. They would be scaling fences, getting through bushes or whatever else and wandering into the street, and some haven’t been seen since.”
Ted Stevens, manager of Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS), told the Signal Tribune Tuesday that the week of Fourth of July is “just crazy.” The fireworks make it a very stressful time for pets, and those animals who do escape homes in an attempt to protect themselves from the threat of fireworks are sometimes placed at the local shelter, which then becomes inundated.
Stevens’s recommendation to residents is that they take extra precautions with their animals by attaching a collar with a name tag and getting them microchipped.
“All of these things that can identify them, so if a neighbor finds the dog, they’re able to call you to come get the dog without the dog coming to the shelter,” he said. “That’s probably the biggest thing they can do. And then, obviously, the most proactive thing they can do is to keep their pet in a safe location. […] I know a lot of people who will speak to their veterinarians about getting a sedative or something to keep their pet calm while the fireworks are going on. There’s a lot of things that residents can do to protect their pets, keep them safe, so they don’t get out.”
Stevens said there are two new ACS programs this year to assist the public with their pets during the holiday. ACS is providing free name tags, with various designs and colors, until July 1. There is also the “Foster for the Fourth” program, an attempt to free up kennel space at the shelter by getting locals to temporarily foster a dog for up to two to three weeks while the ACS can get pets back to their owners.
More information about the programs are available at longbeach.gov/acs.
Matthew Dobberpuhl, fire captain with the LBFD, remembers a time when he used to play with fireworks as a kid. Although shallow fun, it’s a danger for many, he said.
“I just wish they can see what we on the fire department have seen, as far as the damage it has done to people’s homes, the injuries that have been caused,” he said Wednesday in an interview. “Speaking from experience, I’ve been to cities when I was younger and celebrated for the Fourth of July and participated and myself used ‘safe and sane’ fireworks when I was in areas where they were legal. I’ve experienced close-calls with them, and I’ve seen people injured. It’s just not worth it. […] Inevitably, they do end up in children’s hands, and children do get hurt. Adults get hurt. And, they’re serious. They’re not minor injuries. These burns that are often caused can leave lifelong scars, and that’s what we’re trying to prevent. We’re trying to keep people safe while also celebrating the holiday appropriately.
Cook, an England native, said there is a similar type of celebration in his home country on Nov. 5 called “Bonfire Night.”
“We’ve got bonfires, we’ve got fireworks, we’ve got the exact same thing,” he said. “[…] Unfortunately, the exact same thing over there happens, the only thing being that, as far as I’m aware, I’m not sure there any laws or codes that cover it. So, where here it’s, ‘Let’s set off a firework and celebrate,’ there’s always a contingent of people in the community that are completely blinkered to what they’re doing and how it affects someone else. It’s chaos theory. It’s the butterfly effect of, ‘Here’s the thing that I’m doing,’ and the ripples that are going further and further out– and they don’t care about those ripples that go further and further out.”
Cook said a solution would have presented itself by now if it were easy. He said all residents can do right now is be courteous and mindful of others.
“Everybody, in their hearts, they’re good people, generally,” he said. “If you just point out, ‘Look, this is what you’re doing. I know you don’t want to make people miserable.’ Curtail it. Go somewhere where it’s organized. Be methodical, be clinical, be logical about this. Doing it in such a haphazard, random fashion, all it does is cause us misery. It’s a very flimsy argument, but it’s the argument that I have and suggest when it comes to rectifying the situation.”