A Burnaby resident has vowed to keep showing up to public safety committee meetings until the city does something to stop people setting off fireworks at a park beside her house every Halloween and New Year's Eve.
"This has been going on for years now, and this has become unacceptable to us as we cannot live our lives with the threat to our safety and homes," Shanaz Cartwright told the committee at a meeting last week.
Cartwright, who lives in a strata complex right beside Avondale Park, said the fireworks start up about two weeks before Halloween.
On Halloween night this year, she said they went on till 1 a.m.
"We can't live like this," she said. "We were up all night waiting to see what was going to go on next."
Besides the noise, she said she and her neighbour are worried about the fireworks starting a fire either in their wood-frame complex or a mature maple tree in the park where the culprits usually set off the pyrotechnics.
"We see sparks flying," Cartwright said. "There’s absolutely no lighting."
She said she has called the city for a "park patrol" and the RCMP for five or six years to no avail.
"The answers were, 'Oh, we're too busy or we can't make it over there,'" she said.
Cartwright read out a letter from her neighbour Christine Stadler, who echoed her concerns.
"The noise, anxiety and fear have caused us much concern and grief," the letter said. "We cannot enjoy the TV or any other activity to relax, praying it will cease soon."
The two neighbours called on the city to put up sensor lighting in problem areas or signs banning access to the park between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Public safety manager Dave Critchley assured Cartwright the setting off of fireworks in the park is an offence under the city's bylaws, and the neighbours could make a complaint to police or the fire department.
He said he would forward the neighbours' concerns to the parks department with a view to having the park assessed.
Burnaby RCMP Chief Supt. Graham de la Gorgendiere said the detachment gets a lot of fireworks calls at this time of year and seized "quite a number of fireworks" on Halloween night.
He said the calls are prioritized on a "night-to-night basis."
"This will probably continue to be a challenge for us to deal with these types of issues amongst all the other sorts of crime that's called in on a nightly basis in the city," de la Gorgendiere said.
Perhaps the most promising response for the neighbours came from fire Chief Chris Bowcock, who told Cartwright the department has changed the way it responds to such threats.
"Since the recent noticeable change in the weather and the drying, the department's changed all responses and calls related to fireworks in unsafe areas or smells of smoke or concerns that you may have as an emergency response," he said.
If the neighbours believe the fireworks being set off pose a fire risk, Bowcock said the fire department would be "happy to respond in an emergency response."
"We can survey the park in this case and your property to make sure there isn’t a risk, and I think, by our presence, we will assist in moving people on," Bowcock said.
Cartwright thanked the committee, but vowed she'd be back if a solution wasn't found.
"If this continues – like, New Year's Eve is coming – I will continue to come to the meeting to bring my concerns," she said, "and I will probably get a petition going from the home owners of this complex."
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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