Neighbors fed up with mess left behind from fireworks

It's against the law to shoot off fireworks inside the Tulsa city limits, but you'd never know it from the mess at a couple of local parks.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Steve Berg talked with some

Wednesday, July 5th 2006, 4:12 pm

By: News On 6

It's against the law to shoot off fireworks inside the Tulsa city limits, but you'd never know it from the mess at a couple of local parks.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg talked with some angry neighbors who say it looks like a bomb went off.

When she took her dog for a walk this morning at Heller Park, Margaret just about exploded.

"This is the worst I've ever seen it," Margaret says. "I mean it was bad."

To their credit, city workers had already cleaned up the mess. But across town, Norberg Park had the same kind of fireworks free-for-all that Margaret describes.

"I could not get my car into the parking area without having to dodge the big ol', boomy firecrackers," says Margaret.

Of course, piles of trash are just one problem. Margaret says the noise went on past 11:00 PM.

She's not the only one. Larry Bowles with the Tulsa Fire Department says they responded to more than 40 grass fires they think were fireworks related and many dumpster fires.

This is in addition to all the normal calls. He says your chances of getting a fireworks complaint investigated are better if you have a specific address for the violator.

But if enough people ignore a law, any law becomes unenforceable.

"It's a question of sheer volume," says Bowles. "When you look around the city and you see the numerous fireworks going off, you can imagine it's not just one centralized location of the city. The solution is to obey the city ordinance and obey the law and respect the law."

We asked Captain Bowles about the possibility of a fireworks permit like Broken Arrow is trying.

But he says nobody's talking about it here in Tulsa. He thinks there would be a natural conflict with the existing noise ordinance. And of course, there would still be a problem having enough people to enforce it.