There’s nothing more American than watching fireworks. Every Fourth of July, the whole country steps into the backyard and blows a finger off or two trying to light snakes and Roman candles. It’s a tradition we all know and put up with. And every single year, many of those fireworks end up where they aren’t supposed to be.
We’re talking parking lots, interstates, moving cars, and in more than one case, a police cruiser rolling straight into the middle of the chaos. Those are all places that fireworks shouldn’t go. Just like in parked cars, pools, and everywhere else they show up. We’ve gathered several of the stories we’ve seen recently that had us scratching our heads while singing the national anthem.
Take a firework, add a vehicle, throw in a crowd that stood too close, and you’ve got yourself a police report waiting to happen. Some of these stories are pure spectacle. Others cross over into genuinely dangerous territory complete with arrests and injured parties.
So if you’re feeling patriotic (or you just like hearing about things that go boom), here are five times fireworks turned the holiday into police visits. Consider it a friendly reminder that the tradition is a blast right up until the moment it very much is not. Keep it in the yard, keep it away from the car, and keep it classy. It’s, like, America’s birthday, or whatever.
Fireworks Shoot From Burning Truck as I-75 Traffic Grinds to a Halt Near Chattanooga
A truck hauling fireworks caught fire on I-75 just outside Chattanooga, and the cargo was, shall we say, explosive. Shells started launching off the trailer in broad daylight while traffic sat frozen for miles in both directions.
Crews shut the highway down and let it burn itself out. It was a pyrotechnics show that no one bought tickets to, and it might have been cool, if it didn’t involve others on the road.
Chicago Street Takeover Goes Viral After Police Show Up Mid-Donuts and Fireworks
A Chicago intersection got taken over early one morning by drivers doing donuts while a crowd got way too close. Then someone lobbed a firework into the middle of it.
A police cruiser rolled into the circle as well, and the whole scene scattered. And wouldn’t you know it? Someone caught it all on video.
A Fourth of July Crowd Turns Fireworks on Squad Cars
A Fourth of July crowd turned a fireworks night into a police problem. Shells started flying at squad cars, passing vehicles, and bystanders. Officers sent a marked squad to break it up, with a state patrol helicopter circling overhead.
Police say one teenager fired a Roman candle at the squad and was arrested just moments later.
Dallas Fireworks Prompt a Whole New Fourth of July Police Plan
Dallas got so fed up with illegal fireworks and gunfire that its police department rebuilt its entire Fourth of July playbook. It followed holidays where fireworks lit up a grocery store parking lot and drivers parked on live highways to catch the show,.
This year the city answered with road closures around the big event hubs, betting fewer open roads means fewer fireworks calls.
One Driver’s Fourth of July Ends With Their Car on Fire
A Fourth of July in Cape Coral, Florida ended with fire crews in the driveway after someone set their spent fireworks down too close to a parked car. The leftovers reignited near the rear of the vehicle and set it alight before firefighters knocked it down.
Nobody was hurt and the damage stayed mostly to the back end, but it’s a clean reminder that “finished” fireworks stay dangerous for a good while after the show.