38 Replies to "West Seattle 4th of July aftermath: The mess left behind"

• MMB July 5, 2015 (7:27 pm)

  Ugh. Unfortunately, we have a cleanup task to undertake in our own yard, debris from neighbors’ fireworks. Shards of cardboard all over our yard – including some charred pieces. We were surprised that our neighbors, SFD employees, would spend the evening shooting off unsafe and insane fireworks, in these current tinder-dry conditions. But that’s what they did. They cleaned up the streets but we’re finding the shards all over our front and back yards. We’re disappointed.

• Northwest July 5, 2015 (7:35 pm)

  Great work those getting out and caring enough about their community and more importantly marine environment where the litter would wind up eventually. What’s crossed my mind recently with the dry weather we have been having is lurking monster that gets larger every day sometimes as I am working and making deliveries throughout Seattle it will be in the gutter ,an appalling amount, right in front of the apartment building I am about to deliver to and walking along beside the next or next apartment building further down the block the same. Cigarette butts. I reached out Friday seeing our executive councilman shopping in local supermarket about this growing issue these fireworks are nothing in comparison to a much broader problem across our city and a global scale. Again thanks to those individuals out cleaning up the left over debris I myself am slowly making my own effort to reduce cigarette litter from entering Puget Sound and just being a general eye sore around the community. I hope smokers reading this will find it in them to responsibly dispose of their cigarette filters. Thanks

• West Seattle Hipster July 5, 2015 (8:11 pm)

  Shameful. For those folks out celebrating “freedom”, the least you could do after your aerial displays of pyromania is to clean up after yourself. You are just reinforcing stereotypes.

  .

  And THANK YOU, Karen Allan, for caring about our community.

• JoB July 5, 2015 (8:22 pm)

  thanks for highlighting this

• Eric July 5, 2015 (9:18 pm)

  It’d be nice if these self centered people so gung ho on celebrating ‘Merica would take just a little time to clean up their mess instead of making other people responsible for their irresponsibility

• JanS July 5, 2015 (9:30 pm)

  Personal opinion here…people can be pigs. Doing this shows no respect for you, for themselves, for your neighborhood, for this city, for this country, for the environment. They just expect the magic cleanup fairy to follow them throughout their lives as they destroy the world for their selfish enjoyment.

  For those who do not know who made the mess, thank you for taking the time to clean up. for those like MMB, who knows who did it (Sea. Fire department employees, at that), if you feel comfortable doing so, write them a little note, explain what they did is illegal, and ask them , no, tell them, that next time you expect them over early the next day putting your house in order. It’s the least they can do. If you know where he works, a note to his supervisor, asking for remedial training for this guy might be a suggestion.

  Lastly, to all the firefighters who were kept busy yesterday, last night, having to respond in the heat in those heavy outfits, thank you. Maybe some peer pressure may be in order if any working yesterday know some of their compatriots were perpetrators.

• coffee July 5, 2015 (9:45 pm)

  Yet another reason to make fireworks illegal. They pollute. People are disgusting pigs these days. I just don’t get it.

• Elaine July 5, 2015 (9:49 pm)

  We went on the east side of the Cascades to escape this noise and fire hazard. Imagine that.

• KK50 July 5, 2015 (10:18 pm)

  Thanks to everyone who helped clean things up today!
  PS I am not clever enough ,unfortunately , to take credit for the FISH photo. I innocently borrowed it from the Internet. I believe it was from a local public service campaign and didn’t seem to be copyrighted.
  Karen A.

• Mike July 5, 2015 (10:25 pm)

  Slobs

• Smokeycretin9 July 5, 2015 (10:33 pm)

  Freedom. ….pffft.

  Freedom to make a pig stye out of West Seattle and freedom from the responsibility of cleaning up after yourselves.

• Fire wife July 5, 2015 (11:00 pm)

  While I do not condone the actions of your SFD neighbors (more than one?). Wouldn’t it be a better idea to walk next door and ask them to clean up their mess in your yard, rather than call their work to tattle them out!?! More than likely their oblivious to the mess, and would gladly clean it up.

• i'mcoveredinbees July 5, 2015 (11:08 pm)

  Thank you WSB for drawing attention to this. And thank you to those who are out picking up the leftovers.

  To the people who feel entitled to light off illegal fireworks, I think that you suck. (My dog thinks you suck too, btw, but that is a separate issue.) When I was a kid, we did sparklers and all the little ground light up things. The whole neighborhood came out and we picked it up the next day. The big shows were for the professionals. When you scare children and animals, pollute the Sound, and start fires, and upset veterans, you are not asserting your “independence,” you are just being a jerk. Really. You’re not cool.

  Incidentally, I took my dog to a beach down south to enjoy the peace and ironically ended up on a drive-on beach where people were sitting in their trucks lighting off M80’s and rockets. It was like a scene from Deliverance. There was so much trash on the beach, I couldn’t even begin to pick it up and anyway, had to get my scared pooch out of there. We did end up finding a nicer “no fireworks allowed” beach and that helped. It occurred to me later that the drive-on beach was actually a state park! Either there were no rules prohibiting fireworks, or it was completely ignored and unenforced. It’s too bad the selfish people have to cause so much damage just because they can get away with it.

• JanS July 6, 2015 (12:37 am)

  Fire wife….in instances like this I don’t see it as “tattling”. This is a grown man, who knows better. If no one speaks up, then he might just think that everyone condones his behavior. I did suggest contacting him first. But, seriously, if he truly thanks, as a member of SFD, that this is OK, then he needs to be retrained. It’s NOT OK ! And if he’s such a nice guy, then he should have automatically gone to his neighbors and asked if there was some cleanup to be done. If you are asking to be kind with him, because his job doesn’t need to know of his illegal behavior, he made a choice when he did the fireworks…and should have thought of that before he did it, before he broke the law. Yes, holding to a higher standard.

• al July 6, 2015 (12:41 am)

  We live on the other side of the mountain( used to live in W. Seattle), and the personal fireworks were banned for a good reason. Most of the people obeyed, and it was pretty quiet after the city fireworks. Those of a few who didn’t were fined for $1,000. The authorities DID mean it.
  Sorry to see the mess in West Seattle!
  It’ll be nice if someone can identify those who made a big mess, and make them clean up after themselves! Or pile up their mess at the front door!

• DiverLaura July 6, 2015 (12:50 am)

  Thanks for caring about the fireworks debris, I get pretty riled up about them as well. I recommend people staying diligent, as they will start washing up on the beaches over the next couple weeks, and collecting in our very own Puget Sound Garbage Patch. If you are out kayaking take a little net or grabber and a bag or bucket… You’d be surprised how much trash can you find in the rip line.
  Re: the rockfish image, it’s mine, from a post on http://www.btlgproject.com :) Totally cool to be used in any way that helps out Puget Sound!

• Matt S. July 6, 2015 (6:39 am)

  Thank you to the generous, patient folks cleaning up and WSB for covering this.

• Chris July 6, 2015 (8:13 am)

  Thank you for posting the pictures and for the need of volunteers to help clean up.
  I have pets who are totally freaked out every year on Independence Day .
  I don’t shoot off fireworks but I also understand how other people choose to celebrate that way.
  Some of the comments here about stereotypes and ‘Merica show a thread of racism and classism that makes me feel ashamed to be a part of this community.
  Seattleites been doing this for decades and it’s a tradition.

• Bonnie July 6, 2015 (8:29 am)

  Why do people think this is okay? I’m glad I live in a calm boring neighborhood, although I could still hear it all night long.

• anonyme July 6, 2015 (9:15 am)

  The litter is not just what you see on the streets and sidewalks.

  NOAA just released a study on the effects of fireworks on the atmosphere. Pollution measured by particulate matter increases more than 350% in area near fireworks displays. It increases by 40% overall. It begins to dissipate after 24 hours, as all of that toxic, particulate matter, including dangerous heavy metals, settles in a blanket over every inch of land and into the water. Tons of this stuff every year.

  There is a long, long list of reasons why fireworks are dangerous. The environmental effects, too often ignored, are persistent and devastating to all life forms. They really should be illegal everywhere; the fact that existing bans are not enforced is literally criminal.

• T Rex July 6, 2015 (9:36 am)

  Truly disgusting. How could anyone simply walk away and leave such a disgusting mess in such a beautiful park?

  Don’t you have to reserve the tables at Lincoln? If so, can they track the folks who left the mess?

  I guess trash leaves trash. Please do not come back next year.

• dhg July 6, 2015 (9:56 am)

  Some “traditions” need to end. Anonyme makes a good point about the airborne toxins. They settle down and next with your veggies. It seems the number of fireworks lit off illegally was far greater this year than anything in the last 15 yrs. I’d love to find a good solution to stop it.

• pjmanley July 6, 2015 (10:04 am)

  Having watched hundreds of anti-litter PSA’s since the late 60’s, and generally giving a tinker’s damn about my neighbors and neighborhood, I find it impossible to comment on this subject without fiery rage and a string of expletives directed at those responsible for what is depicted in the above photos. So, instead I will just thank those great citizen-neighbors who care enough about this area to clean up after the slobs. WS wouldn’t be the same without you fine people. KUTGW!

• Seriously July 6, 2015 (10:27 am)

  Are you people for real? Anger management might be beneficial for some here. I really thought the WSB had rules against name calling, but I guess not when it comes to fireworks. “Pigs”, seriously?

• West Seattle Hipster July 6, 2015 (10:55 am)

  Setting over aerial explosives over densely packed neighborhoods is a “tradition” that is negligent and should end.

  .

  I will be writing to the mayor, county executive, and governor over the next 12 months and express my concerns about these amatierish and dangerous firework displays.

• JoB July 6, 2015 (11:21 am)

  i believe the word pig was used as a description of someone who leaves their trash for others to pick up… in this case an accurate description.

• John July 6, 2015 (11:27 am)

  Each year I go into my street and pick up the mess left by my neighbors who don’t believe they have to pick up the mess they made. I don’t get it? This is the same neighbor who’s dog pooped, on my lawn, at my feet, the first day we met and he never picked it up.

• seaview res July 6, 2015 (12:34 pm)

  The parking lot and area around the church at 47th and Graham is always littered with fireworks remains and they never, ever pick them up. When I walk by there sometimes, I see things from previous years. There’s always gravel washing into the storm drains and garbage there, but the fireworks thing is definitely worse. There is absolutely no effort to pick that place up. I’ve tried to pick up trash sometimes, but I can’t make much of a dent, with a disability.

• anonyme July 6, 2015 (12:38 pm)

  West Seattle Hipster – I think there are enough of us – the vast majority, I would say – who feel strongly enough about this to organize an effort of this kind. It will have more effect than single complaints. Hopefully we can get something together before losing momentum. I’ve been working on this for a while, and will post in the forums when it takes more form. I encourage everyone who is sick to death of this to get involved with ideas and discussion beyond these comments.

• w.s.maverick July 6, 2015 (2:43 pm)

  what is wrong with people I can’t believe none picks up their own mess anymore.

• alki jack July 6, 2015 (4:56 pm)

  Along Harbor AVe, there was TONS of trash but I noticed something interesting: Many people had gathered their trash and stacked it next to the trash cans. The city had supplied extra porta potties but NO extra trash cans. Perhaps the parks dept could put a memo on their calendar for next year (or any special event) to supply extra trash cans.

• Chuck and Sally's Van Man July 6, 2015 (5:25 pm)

  @ w.s.maverick: And it’s not only during the big events, either. It was about a month ago that a friend and I took a stroll along the south end of the Lincoln Park walkway, from the parking lot closest to the ferry dock. There were two picnic tables strewn with the refuse of an earlier gathering, with no one in sight. Worse, there were Tonka truck style play toys left on the beach, in reach of the coming tide a few hours away. I moved what I could to higher land, not sure if the owners were coming back for these (pricey) toys or not.

  As for those expressing indignation over the use of the word “pig,” it seems an accurate, and kinder, monicker to me. I can think of a dozen more expressive–spot on–names.

  Slobs–and thieves–drive me nuts!

• ChefJoe July 6, 2015 (6:22 pm)

  Alki jack,
  that is done on purpose, to save money and encourage people to take their trash with them. I guess some people don’t do that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-cuts-back-on-trash-cans-in-parks/

• Maggie May July 6, 2015 (6:25 pm)

  There is always lots of trash along Harbor Ave and beneath the WS Bridge. Our neighborhood – Manning Street hill – organized one Sunday clean-up and is planning another. We are determined but the challenge is daunting. Trash includes clothing and some people dump their toxic waste under the bridge instead of driving to the South Transfer Station, which takes it for free. One person leaves bags of dog poop on the ground. I applaud the bagging and just wish the offender would put it in a trash can. What can be done at the community level to discourage littering?

• KM July 6, 2015 (7:16 pm)

  Huge thanks to everyone who picked up the fourth of July aftermath! I love massive clean up efforts by our community–I know the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation did a 5th of July cleanup at some local beaches, and also do a lot to keep cigarette butts off our beaches. Thanks to everyone who does something about keeping our community clean!

• ScubaFrog July 6, 2015 (7:32 pm)

  ‘Murca! Mah Freedums! Way to stay classy, ‘murca.
  –
  To the responsible citizens who don’t litter and break the law, Thank You. Also thanks for the awesome Samaritans who took the time to clean up, and to the ones who brought these revelations to light in our local media.

• alki jack July 7, 2015 (10:10 am)

  ChefJoe…..well, I guess that program is a dud. It probably costs more for park employees to clean up than it would for them to empty extra trash cans. Brilliant!!

  • WSB July 7, 2015 (10:17 am)

    FYI, that wasn’t the last word on park trash cans. I tried to find the followup in our archives but had to break off. They did start bringing more back shortly thereafter.

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