City reports 179 complaints of fireworks over Canada Day weekend

A long weekend of pyrotechnics brought out a cacophony of complaints to the City of Ottawa's bylaw department.

From Canada Day until July 5, bylaw received about 179 complaints compared to 113 last year, according to the City of Ottawa. There were 31 complaints in 2019. 

"They kind of felt like they were non-stop," said Jim McAvoy, who lives in Barrhaven. He said people were lighting fireworks midday and even before the July 1 holiday.

"It didn't seem like there was any appreciable break — like there were just fireworks going off all the time."

Nathan Adams with Ottawa Fire Services said firefighters did not respond to any incidents related to fireworks, though the service anticipated considerable risk heading into the weekend.

"This year has been incredibly dry, so any time that people are dispensing fireworks, it does create a heightened risk for fires both in suburban areas and urban areas," said Adams, deputy chief of fire prevention and communications.

This year, there were more muted celebrations across the country following the discovery of hundreds of children's remains at former residential schools.

That sombre situation, coupled with many who are against fireworks, could be leading to more complaints, according to Adams. 

"You're seeing a bit of a divide in terms of people's approach to it. Some people are very open to fireworks displays and conduct themselves and then you also see a lot of people that are following the restrictions much more stringently and and are frankly, against fireworks in the atmosphere," Adams said.

McAvoy said he anticipated people would still celebrate given looser pandemic restrictions.

"I'm not anti-fun. I think there's a time and a place for everything, but I also think that the lack of oversight on everything just makes it not fun for everyone," McAvoy said.