West Seattle 4th of July: Scenes from Alki

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That was the Beach Fire From Hell. As the evening progressed, its stokers started throwing in the furniture they brought for their day at the beach. A chair, another chair, a table. Flames roared skyward. Black smoke billowed seaward. Embers danced toward nearby log-sitters’ backs. Parks crew came over immediately after the fireworks and doused it, about the same time two officers broke up a simmering squabble nearby. Speaking of officers:

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They wasted no time clearing the beach as soon as both fireworks shows (Jul-Ivar’s started first, followed by Lake Union, both quite clearly visible from our spot toward the west end of the sand) ended. “LET’S GO, LET’S GO, TIME TO GO, PEOPLE, BEACH IS CLOSED, SIDEWALK TOO,” they shouted (and loudspeakered from a slow-moving car). 10:40 pm is earlier than the usual beach-closing time, a few people were heard grumbling. (We stopped briefly to send a Twitter message for the previous post and we were quickly told in no uncertain terms to get a move on.) Now, the pre-fireworks sights:

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Brief appearance by the crescent moon, visible over Bainbridge before clouds moved in from the south. Nice sunset too:

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Long night ahead; our windows are open and it still sounds fairly thunderous out there.

34 Replies to "West Seattle 4th of July: Scenes from Alki"

  • Erik July 4, 2008 (11:57 pm)

    Did you guys or anyone else get a picture of the hanglider/catamaran that was flying over Alki around 8ish. We were playing volleyball and had to stop to see this odd sight.

  • Molly July 5, 2008 (12:09 am)

    Why in the world don’t the police let people walk on the sidewalk after the fireworks have ended? Ridiculous.

  • WSB July 5, 2008 (12:17 am)

    I have to check the video camera and see if Patrick caught that – I know he was trying to. (Update, no, darn, we didn’t. Somebody must have, though.)

  • s July 5, 2008 (12:30 am)

    it was SOOOOO nice having the traffic restriction this year. people were riding their bikes down the road, and we could cross the street to the beach without fearing for our lives.

    i hope they continue to do this every year.

  • Magpie July 5, 2008 (9:04 am)

    Another group of morons not following the bonfire rules. It is these people who get drunk and then decided to burn illegal stuff. I have lots of names I would like to call them, but not if children are reading…these guys are probably fans of the show “Jackass” I love my bonfires, but always play by the rules..smoke from furniture and couches can be very poisonous.

    (Of course, while I was watching fireworks from my deck from downtown to Renton, I was noticing the huge amount smoke and wondering how long it was going to be before the mayor, Mr Greenjeans tries to ban firework displays for their pollution..)

  • cami July 5, 2008 (9:32 am)

    In the 15 years I’ve lived at Alki, I’ve never experieced a 4th of July as quiet as this. While it was nice to get some sleep last night, I thought the barricades were overkill. It was like the residents of Alki were having a private party. And clearing the beach when it wasn’t even closed???? They never do that. There must be a happy medium between the near riots of last year and the exclusive gathering of last night. I did help drive in with a couple of friends through the barricade at Harbor. I showed my ID and the officer responded “I’m not aware of the streets down here, so I’ll take your word for it”.
    So, perhaps the streets can be blocked off later next year and more folks can enjoy the FREEDOM of visiting our public beach on Indepenence Day.

  • Nancy Folsom July 5, 2008 (9:49 am)

    Cami, I’m glad it was quiet somewhere. It sure wasn’t over near the Delridge Community Center where fireworks and firecrackers were going off til well after midnight (with another batch going off at 2:30).

    I finally gave up after 3 hours of constant explosions and called the non-emergency police # at 11 pm, and then again at midnight. You can imagine my frustration when, while on the phone with the dispatcher, I watched a police car drive by the community center as several groups of fireworks went off! I realize the car may have had another task (tho it didn’t seem in a hurry) but I sure would have been grateful if this cop had been as eager to clear the park of after hours, ILLEGAL activity as the Aliki forces were in clearing the beach.

  • barb July 5, 2008 (9:55 am)

    Admiral was pretty loud also, and since Alki I think we had more traffic up here on Admiral. The traffic has to go somewhere doesn’t it?

  • Jo July 5, 2008 (10:27 am)

    I live on Alki and although it seemed there were more local fireworks, the streets were very empty. It was nice. Kind of spooky.
    But there were alot of people walking down towards the beach, and it sure seemed that there were more buses idling by the Log Cabin Museum on 61st. Did they run extra buses, does anyone know?

  • Erik July 5, 2008 (10:32 am)

    Jo – That bus would’ve normally been sitting in front of the Alki Bakery, but they must’ve wanted to keep Alki empty.

    The traffic jam in front of my house ended at 11:30 instead of the usual 1:00am, so less people had to be there?

  • angelescrest July 5, 2008 (10:33 am)

    Quiet? It was a barrage until 2:00 a.m. from Bar-S field on Alki. LOUD explosives, fireworks… I knew the police probably had more than they could handle, so I didn’t even bother to call. The detritus of a night’s worth of partying can be found in the parking lot there this morning, and it isn’t pretty.

  • Jo July 5, 2008 (1:08 pm)

    There definitely were more fireworks in the neighborhood this year. And big ones, too. M-80’s.
    I live on 61st, a block from the beach, and there was virtually no cars on 61st from about 6:30pm – after fireworks were over.
    I hear it was nuts up in Admiral Dist, because people were forced to park there and walk because of the traffic restrictions.
    Erik: you’re right. That bus does always sit in front of the Bakery.

  • nants July 5, 2008 (2:18 pm)

    I was thrilled to feel safe while enjoying the fireworks and walking back to my home on 60th…last year I thought I was going to witness a gangfight on the corner of Alki and 60th after the fireworks and got out of there asap….I thanked one of the policeman for being there last night..I like the car restriction after 6pm and hope that they will repeat this from now on…great work!!!

  • Pete July 5, 2008 (3:10 pm)

    So fireworks are banned in the city of seattle right? We pay taxes to maintian the parks in teh city of seattle right? We pay the salaries of the police officers in the city of seattle right? The let folsk go to Alki and use th ebeach we paid for and have the police enforce the laws of no fireworks. I am sick and tired of cleaning up the trash in my yard and neighborhood from folks that shoot the fireworks and then leave their mess. Not ot mention the danger of our houses being so close together it increases the fire danger.

    Two police cars showed up about 8 pm to handle a disturbance on the next street over and when that was handled they drove through my neighorhood and it did not even slow the barrage of fireworks. I for one am tired of it sounding like a war zone on the 4th of July and New Years eve. Something has to give here.

  • WSB July 5, 2008 (3:15 pm)

    Interesting drama going on over in southeast Seattle – one of the newer neighborhood-news sites has been covering the 4th of July closure of several area parks.
    http://rainiervalleypost.blogspot.com/2008/07/park-closure-update-happy-4th-of-july.html
    Should all but the major parks be closed on 4th night? Would that make things elsewhere better or worse? One person wrote us earlier today that he went over to a Delridge park and did some cleaning up himself because it was so trashed.

  • viaAlki July 5, 2008 (4:04 pm)

    For five years we witnessed the disgusting madness that overcomes Alki Avenue hours before the fireworks show; half-naked people dancing on the roofs of slow-moving cars, bikers in chromed nazi helmets revving Harleys, drunken sorority blondes waving open bottles from rented town cars. Not this year! This year was the most civilized Fourth of July here in memory; no cars, no nazis on Harleys, no parolees flashing gang signs. It was great. Sanity had returned. My sincerest thanks to whomever in the Seattle PD made the decision to shut off traffic. Do it again … anytime.

  • k July 5, 2008 (4:42 pm)

    nothing was quiet over near morgan junction. we are on 45th and it was crazy! people with professional caliber fireworks and launchers right down the center of our street for nearly 3 hours. it was insanity! it was rude, dangerous and downright scary at times. again, it’s illegal, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

  • Nancy Folsom July 5, 2008 (5:33 pm)

    So, why were so many people breaking the law? Is it a matter of education? I suspect most people had no clue they’re illegal. Is the ban on fireworks yet another silly law that can’t be realistically enforced? Why ban them if the ban can’t or won’t be enforced? If police weren’t going to enforce it even when it happened right in front of them, why were we led to believe we should call reports in? (As for not calling it in as another poster said, I can sympathize, but if you don’t then the SPD doesn’t have statistics on it being a problem. Which is why it’s important to report every crime, like a broken car window.)

  • WSB July 5, 2008 (5:42 pm)

    One difficult thing regarding the ban is that adjacent jurisdictions haven’t been able to get together and agree on a consistent law. It’s going to be hard to keep West Seattle fireworks-free, for example, if you can hop across Roxbury or down 16th and shop till you drop. And if people even in the unincorporated area aren’t supposed to use the fireworks except between 9 am and midnight on the 4th of July, then why start selling them almost a week ahead of time? Here are the King County fireworks rules, for unincorporated and for each city in the county (this was linked from our 4th of July page too):
    http://www.metrokc.gov/permits/fire/fireworks.aspx

  • Jamal Ginsberg July 5, 2008 (5:50 pm)

    I’m sure most of the posters in this article dont actually live on Alki Ave. So let me be frank, this is the first year that the City has kicked them selves in gear, after many complaints from me and other condo owners, about the traffic on the “strip”. Thank god that the hoodlums, unbans, trailer trash, ghetto thugs or anyone else who were loitering near private property, were kicked off the sidewalks. I can not emphasize how often on a sunny day/night that I’m not able to sleep or leave my home, unless I plan ahead, because of everyone crowding the beach. Most of the traffic aren’t even patrons of the Alki beach businesses, just around to bump loud stereo systems, large exhaust mufflers, or annoying motorcycles. This is what I get for being successful enough to own beach view property.

  • WSB July 5, 2008 (6:20 pm)

    As a point of clarification, police were clearing the sidewalks on the public side of the street too. My husband, our 12-year-old son, and I, who weren’t “loitering” and probably wouldn’t fit into any of the categories listed above, were kicked off the sidewalk by the Bathhouse while I paused for all of 30 seconds to finish typing a text message for a post on this site. Very politely, but kicked off just the same. (I wasn’t wearing my SPD media credential badge as we were mostly in private-life mode.) Let me also say I am not complaining about that but it was noteworthy that the police were ordering everybody out before official closing time. We’d received (and reported) advance word of the traffic restrictions, but no advance word that the park would be cleared the second the fireworks were over. Perhaps this has happened in previous years; this is the first time in five-plus years we had been able to go see the fireworks “in person.”

  • barb July 5, 2008 (6:25 pm)

    Jamal, so are you sending a big screw you to the rest of West Seattle who aren’t “successful enough” to live at the beach? I’m sorry, but if you move to Alki I’m thinking that people and traffic and noise is something you might have to realize you are going to have to deal with. If you didn’t want the public to invade your area then you should probably move to a gated community.

  • acemotel July 5, 2008 (6:54 pm)

    Ginsberg: this is what you get for buying property abutting a public park and an urban public park at that. I agree w barb – you should probably move to the Highlands (if you can afford it!) I think Bellevue and Redmond, even places like Kent and Auburn have gated communities for those middly-successful types who haven’t been successful enough to buy into real urban gated communities. :-) Public parks are not going to clear out the riff raff for your convenience!

  • Bob Loblaw July 5, 2008 (6:55 pm)

    Party at Jamal’s house!

  • Pete July 5, 2008 (7:33 pm)

    I think the point is that it is public property owned by all of us and is not the private domain of someone that owns a condo at Alki. I think that a few bad apples have spoiled a great time that most folks going to Alki should be able to enjoy without being categorized and put in derogatory categories at that. The privileged class in action again I suppose.

  • Suzanne July 5, 2008 (8:15 pm)

    We decided to take a bus downtown and watch the fireworks from Myrtle Edwards Park and it was delightful. There was a lot of security and they were checking bags for alcohol and fireworks as you entered the park. Initially, I was a bit put off by the search, but then I realized how much more relaxing it was than previous years down on Harbor Ave where everyone was sending off fireworks. I’ve been a bit reluctant to return after being hit by one a couple years back.

  • J Ginsberg July 6, 2008 (9:37 am)

    Ive been catching a lot of negative responses, and I would like to address them. Living in Redmond and Bellevue is not an option for me because I love the view of Seattle. Not to mention Kent or anywhere south of Seattle proper tends to look like White Center. And because of the uptight vegan liberals, building any new property causes an uproar. Now, for the people who think living on Alki Ave. means that you have to put up with the “excessive” traffic, noise and partying. Do you know how it feels to have your Porsche sideswiped by Honda racing juveniles? If there is an emergency, how do the paramedics assist anyone who lives in the condos, should I have to inconvenience myself by having to plan ahead for emergency’s or my daily errands?

  • Lisa July 6, 2008 (2:07 pm)

    Jamal,
    Sounds like you need to buck up and buy some property a little further down the beach where you could have your own private beach all for yourself. The part of Alki that gets so much traffic happens to be some of the only public beach front left in Seattle and surrounding areas, or in the USA for that matter. If you don’t want to deal with the public then pay more and live private. I couldn’t be happier to have Alki available for me and my family to enjoy the beach front whenever we want. It is part of what makes West Seattle such a fantastic and amazing place to live for more than just the “successful enough to buy beach view property” folks. If you don’t want to share then dig deep in those pockets. Your property was expensive, I am sure, but it was also more affordable given the proximity to public beaches.

  • booger July 6, 2008 (2:10 pm)

    I lived on Alki myself for 3 years, and yes, you do need to plan ahead, living in such a public place, and the noise that goes with it. You don’t live on Alki for the peace and quiet! As far as emergencies, the police and fire departments do a very good job navigating through heavy traffic. For every holiday that came, I didn’t want to go anywhere else to enjoy the festivities, and I was sure glad I didn’t have to drive in. I looked forward to every summer that came, and as well looked forward to the quiet times the other 9 months out of the year. As far as your Porsche, park defensively. I had two nice cars down there, one a Porsche as well, and had zero problems.

  • Jo July 6, 2008 (2:12 pm)

    Get over yourself, Mr. Ginsberg.
    You’re getting negative responses due to the fact that your sense of ‘privilege’ because you’re a successful condo owner on Alki has insulted thousands of very nice people. Me included. Hey, folks, not all of us Alki-ites think/feel the same way Mr. Ginsberg does. Just so you know.

  • barb July 6, 2008 (2:28 pm)

    Jo, I personally don’t feel as if all Alki-ites are in the same mindset as Mr. Ginsberg. I’m sure there are others, but I don’t think it’s the majority of people.

  • WSB July 6, 2008 (7:33 pm)

    BTW before this thread is found by a new wave of folks coming off the holiday weekend and a fresh burst of outrage, I may be the last person on earth to have realized it but JG is using a tv-related alias. No ban on that ’round here, where it’s 90% aliases/nicknames/first names, but it tends to lend credence to my suspicion that the sentiments expressed were a little over the top and perhaps even meant as satire/sarcasm – TR, who needs to find the Cliff’s Notes of tv so she’s not so far behind on pop-culture references

  • Mr.JT July 6, 2008 (8:54 pm)

    J Ginsburg: parking your Porsche on the street.. How proletariat is that ?

  • Jo July 6, 2008 (9:13 pm)

    TR – You mean someone is messing with us?
    If so, what a jerk!
    And if not, still a jerk!

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