Fireworks Cause Panicked Calls in Capital
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of Washington, D.C., residents took cover in buildings, raced to outdoor balconies and made panicked calls to local police and fire departments Saturday night, unaware that the loud explosions they heard were from a fireworks display near the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The noise, which sounded like machine-gun fire to some and like bombs or cannonballs to others, could be heard as far away as upper Northwest Washington and Falls Church, Va.
District of Columbia fire department dispatchers were deluged with calls from worried residents for more than an hour, said department spokesman Alan Etter. “They couldn’t count the number of calls,” Etter said. “They were swamped.”
District emergency officials, aware of the scheduled fireworks display, nonetheless sent out firetrucks as a precaution in response to the numerous reports of noise, smoke and haze, Etter said.
Oh dear.
Knowledge is power and ignorance is bliss.
The JFK Center should publish in the local newspaper a notice BEFORE they have a big event with fireworks or...should they?
I wonder if this is a common event there?
Thanks for letting me know JellyJam.
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