For the past two weeks, residents from New York City to Los Angeles have reported a nightly chorus of booms, crackles, and shrieks as a barrage of professional-grade fireworks light up just outside their windows.
For some residents, this has given them welcomed ringside seats to daily firework shows. Others have struggled with sleep deprivation and anxiety, as round after round explodes startlingly close to their homes, waking infants, and sending dogs into a frenzy.
The debate over why cities across the U.S. are seeing an uptick in illegal fireworks ranges from the conspiratorial (a government psy-op to destabilize the Black Lives Matter movement) to the banal (people are bored after months of quarantine and setting off colorful loud explosives has offered much-needed catharsis).
Whatever the cause, one side-effect is clear: the highly-regulated firework industry is getting a massive boost from the surge in interest. Despite the cancellation of public firework displays, which are usually the industry's bread and butter, many outlets have seen sales skyrocket in recent weeks.
"This is an unprecedented season in firework sales, not just here, but nationwide," said Brian Ramsey, manager of Phantom Fireworks in Matamoras, Pennsylvania, which sits just across the borders of New York and New Jersey.
The type of sales that usually take place in the week leading up to July Fourth has held steady throughout the month of June, Ramsey added, with lines forming around the building even on weekdays.
Phantom is one of several firework vendors in Pennsylvania that line the borders of New York and New Jersey, neither of which allow the sale of professional fireworks within their jurisdictions and prohibit residents from bringing them across state lines.
Though many buyers take the risk every year, local authorities inundated with complaints could soon bring the hammer down.
In New York City, where 311 complaints about fireworks have jumped more than 4,000 percent since last year, the backlash is already forming. On Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio targeted suppliers in a speech promising a crackdown on illegal fireworks.
"We're going to start from the biggest operations, not focused on the kid on the corner," the mayor said. "We're focused on the people that are really profiting and really distributing a lot of fireworks."
Who exactly will get the brunt of enforcement remains to be seen, but New York City Sheriff Joseph Fucito said the Big Apple has its sights on out-of-state businesses selling large quantities to bulk buyers.
"What we see, oftentimes, the person selling the item out of the back of the van didn't acquire it in a small way," he said during a press conference. "They actually went to another jurisdiction and made a significant purchase, let's say $10,000 or more in some type of contraband that's illegal in New York City."
For their part, firework vendors insist sales are not coming from bulk buyers, but rather a flood of new customers.
"I haven't seen anybody coming in buying a U-Haul truck full of fireworks with the intent of redistributing," said Joe VanOudenhove, managing partner of Sky King Fireworks, which has locations in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Georgia, and Florida. "I'm not saying that stuff doesn't happen, but it doesn't happen with our company."
This isn't the first time the industry has experienced backlash from local authorities, given the hodgepodge nature of firework laws, but as a result many outlets take a hands-off approach.
"It's all over our marketing material that people are responsible for knowing and understanding the laws where they're going to be using their fireworks," VanOudenhove said. "It's their responsibility to procure the necessary documentation to use these fireworks."
VanOudenhove takes a broader view of what's happening now. Mostly he chalks up the increased sales to a perfect storm brought on by coronavirus, the start of summer, and a backlog of holiday spirit.
The closure of movie theaters, casinos, music festivals, and sporting events has left a dearth of activities for consumers, which he said is being replaced with home firework shows.
"The biggest driving force is the lack of entertainment," he said.
People have also missed out on celebrating the last several holidays due to coronavirus restrictions. Now that states are reopening in the lead-up to Independence Day, he said there is a desire to pull out all the stops and really celebrate.
"At least on the East Coast, these people have been inside for months," he said. "Americans are patriotic people. When we're on the road to victory or victorious, we rally."
For Sky King, the numbers bear this out. Depending on the location, sales are up 200 to 400 percent, according to VanOudenhove. This is compared to industry forecasts that were predicting a 20-50 percent drop in sales due to coronavirus.
Partly because of this initially bleak prediction, fireworks outlets moved up the kind of discounts they would usually only offer after the Fourth of July to help clear out their inventory for the year.
But discounts only go so far. A lot of it has to do with how people are feeling after months of quarantine, said Ramsey.
"You hear the customers talking about how they just want to get out and celebrate," he said. "It's been a rough time for the nation and for communities, and I think people are just trying to band together and have a little fun."
