More Noise Needed about Quiet Fireworks
Fireworks are no longer one or two days a year in the UK. The anxiety and stress caused by fireworks for many requires a compromise by those who enjoy the lights and those who suffer from their noise. The bangs terrify wildlife, pets, some children and adults. Some people simply don’t want to be woken to loud bangs and would prefer none. And change may be afoot. But in the meantime, there’s a compromise for when displays do have to go off, that keeps the lights, but lessens bangs. And it’s available already — just many aren’t aware. Quieter, lower bang-rating fireworks. This article looks at the different groups affected by bangs, as well as quieter firework options that are already available amongst normal firework offerings.
Who is affected by these bangs that sound like gunshots?
Numerous petitions have been signed against them and there are currently discussions in parliament looking to amend the legislation because of the distress caused to too many people and animals.
For pet owners, the extreme anxiety suffered by their pets is distressing.If you have a terrified pet, it’s hard to leave them home alone as they don’t understand the noises. My greyhound, now 10 pants, for hours as they go on and each night (as the fireworks period is now extended) becomes more concerned by every sound — and we’ve tried every remedy.
Wildlife is affected — horses, sheep, birds, endangered species vulnerable in the open. Don’t we owe it to wildlife, as fellow inhabitants of this planet, to consider them? A community Facebook group in Beaconsfield, South Bucks, ‘Considerate Beaconsfield’ has started up to try to raise local awareness that quieter fireworks are available and that people should demand them of venues that do fireworks, as well as of retailers to stock more.
If pets and wildlife don’t interest you, plenty of people are affected. If you were a war veteran and suffered from PTSD, how might bangs affect you? Not only war veterans are affected by PTSD of course. PTSD UK commented, “Fireworks can affect the PTSD of anyone, no matter their trauma — it’s not necessarily always about specific reminders, sometimes loud noises, flashes etc can set off any PTSD symptoms and flashbacks.”
I spoke to one fireworks provider, who said they provided quiet fireworks for a school with children on the autism spectrum, for some of whom bangs are distressing. Great, but those children — and adults — also live where bangs go off — not just at displays.
I asked in a Facebook group for feedback on bangs for people. One lady commented, “My daughter hates them. She loves the nice pretty lights, but is petrified of the bangs. It’s such a shame for her, because she sees them and gets excited, but then most are followed by a ridiculously loud bang. I hate watching her have to suffer and miss out because loud noises hurt her ears.” Another lady said, “There are lots of fireworks around here in the late autumn. Although I love the pretty colours, I find the loud bangs distressing. Especially as some are let off in the middle of the night! I suffer from extreme sensitivity to loud noise (hyperacusis) and dread November!!” On Wikipedia, it says, “Hyperacusis(or hyperacousis) is a highly debilitating hearing disorder characterised by an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies and volume ranges of sound…Crying spells or panic attacks may result from the experience….Hyperacusis can result in anxiety, stress and phonophobia. Avoidant behaviour is often a response to prevent the effects of hyperacusis and this can include avoiding social situations.” Hyperacusis could affect between 2 and 9% of adults and even if sufferers don’t go out, they’re subjected to bangs. How can that be ok, just because some people apparently like bangs?
So what about quiet fireworks — aren’t they hard to get hold of?
No. Quieter fireworks already exist and are often shown in mainstream displays — you just might not notice. In my research, a quieter fireworks online petition has come up too. Some companies have bang ratings. For example, one company has a 1–10 ‘bangometer’. Those at level 10 create a huge noise and those 1–4 are quieter. They also have a colour rating and some have for example, a low, ‘1’ bang rating and colour of 10 and vice versa. So they’re colourful and quieter. So why aren’t more being used? It seems they are being used regularly by display companies. Tim Sallis of Total Pyro Ltd says 55% of his non firework-season business comes from quieter firework displays, 35% noisy and 10% indoor. Firework season is, sadly noisy. “Over the past 8 years the number of low noise displays we have fired has increased steadily. They are now an integral part of our business model and we expect this trend to continue at a pace. We work closely with all our customers and venues in an effort to show greater consideration over the impact of each display.” Venues with regular displays often get noise complaints, so have to consider neighbours. Knebworth House for example, uses them, among others. According to my local council, it’s repeated noise that’s a problem to them. The trouble is anywhere doing ad hoc fireworks seem to carry on regardless. So we, the public need to step up and demand them.
Different towns in North America have had quieter fireworks this year, in consideration of wildlife — Banff in Canada for example. I did an online search on quieter fireworks in the UK and it came up with a page of companies that had them amongst their offerings. I called just two of them — Fantastic Fireworks and Epic Fireworks and they confirmed they do and that they’re amongst their offerings, at similar prices.
So for those who dislike the noise and those considerate of the many for whom it’s distressing, we need to step up and demand that public displays increasingly use quieter fireworks and that retailers stock more options, so that if people are doing them in their garden, they can at least pick more considerate ones. These aren’t silent fireworks. They’re quieter and people doing displays should pick ones with low bang ratings. The silent option is no fireworks, which would be my preference or at least a severe limit on the number of nights per year they can go off, so we shouldn’t do more because of these, but this is the compromise for those nights of the year when they do have to go off.
So let’s be more considerate of others — human or animal, since we cohabit this world together. Go to public displays to reduce the number of fireworks, encourage your MPs to support the discussions to change legislation about fireworks and encourage people to use quiet fireworks.
