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Residents urge Racine leaders to clamp down on illegal fireworks, citing trauma to pets and veterans
Summary
Three residents told the Racine Common Council that illegal, ‘bomb‑sounding’ fireworks near homes shake windows, produce hazardous smoke and traumatize pets and veterans; commenters urged enforcement, earlier policing and a possible 10:30 p.m. cutoff and linked the issue to an upcoming fireworks procurement referral.
Jill Ballantyne, a Racine resident, told the Common Council on Tuesday that illegal fireworks set off near her home produce “bomb‑sounding” blasts that shake windows, generate smoke that makes “your eyes tear” and leave neighbors struggling to breathe.
“It's a dense, highly populated area,” Ballantyne said, and the repeated blasts “go on almost every night” in July. She asked the council to enforce existing noise and disturbance ordinances and take steps to prevent the incidents rather than simply respond after the fact.
Patty Pryscato, introduced by the city clerk as a Racine resident, said last year the fireworks woke an 8‑month‑old baby and left pets and members of the community shaken. She suggested the city consider a time limit — “maybe 10:30” p.m. — increase enforcement presence and, if needed, rent additional officers to manage calls on high‑impact nights.
Tad Valentine urged a practical response from city leaders, saying the problem affects a broad constituency and appealing to what he called the “three V’s”: veterans, veterinarians and voters. “If you like animals, it's a bad night for them,” Valentine said, and he asked the mayor and police chief to coordinate with aldermen on best practices for enforcement.
The public comments came before the council referred a slate of finance items — including a request to sole‑source the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display to Pyrotechnical Fireworks Incorporated — to the Finance and Personnel Committee for consideration. A city clerk read the items into the record during the referrals segment of the meeting.
The council did not take immediate action in response to the individual public commenters beyond placing the procurement referral on the committee calendar. The item regarding the fireworks vendor will be considered by Finance and Personnel, which will be the venue for questions about vendor selection, contract terms and any operational restrictions the council might seek to impose.
