Burnt Down, Blown Up: The Fourth of July is Expensive
Today, public parks are littered with bits of colorful cardboard, charred debris and maybe a little vomit, as the people of Seattle and the surrounding areas try to go back to their daily lives in the wake of the raucousness that is the Fourth of July Weekend.
But it's not just the toll that excessive imbibing and time spent staring and bright objects takes on the body that has folks hurting today. Between fireworks, bored teens, explosive accidents and of the manpower it takes to staff civil services over the long weekend (thanks, police and fire fighters!), the last three days are a financial burden, as well. Let's take a look at the fiscal reality of celebrating our independence.
As we reported yesterday, two teens were caught vandalizing Snohomish High School. Total property damage done to the school, including computers, books and broken glass? About $100,000.
The massive melee that broke out in front of a club downtown, which involved about 1,500 participants, is sure to cost a few people some scratch. Two counts of felony property damage were filed, in addition to assault, which means more than $5,000 per incident, according to the law. That is an additional $10,000 in damages, at least.
Meanwhile, Queen Anne View has the scoop on a kid who lost a finger from a homemade firework yesterday. The teen "found the explosive on the ground" and lit it while still holding on. However, as body parts are legally barred from being given a monetary value, we can't speak to the cost of the damage. Our thoughts do go out to the kid, though.
An arson on Capitol Hill on the Fourth also resulted in a little property damage, though the sign which was vandalized was not in use at the time. Still, signs can cost anywhere from $60 to $90, and surely countless other similar signs were torched around the City.
A house fire that started when a firework landed on the roof of a Beacon Hill residence. The home's occupants came home early this morning to find that the house had sustained about $60,000 in damage, according to the Times.
A rail trestle over Chuckanut Bay, near Bellingham, was damaged due to a fire that officials are blaming on fireworks. While there are no reports on the cost of the damages, the fire did take about 90 minutes to put out, and left substantial damage to the structure. KOMO has the photos to illustrate.
And finally, the biggest expense of them all--the Family 4th itself. Widely sponsored by corporate donors (remember FireWatch?), the Gasworks bonanza, which lasted just over a half hour, managed to blow up about almost a half million dollars in explosives.
So, there you have it. Aside from getting gouged on ice and beer, area residents, businesses, taxpayers and schools are footing the bill for a big, hot mess of a weekend. Maybe there aren't many major holidays in the rest of July and August because the Founding Fathers knew we couldn't afford it.
