VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Next week in Virginia Beach you'll be able to enjoy fireworks shows at Mt. Trashmore and down at the Oceanfront, but many may also hear fireworks around their neighborhoods.
The Virginia Beach Emergency Communications & Citizen Services (VBECCS) is asking residents to report those illegal fireworks in a new way.
"It's controlled Chaos but we're good at it," Carmen VanVoorhis, deputy director of operations for VBECCS, said. "We know what to expect."
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VanVoorhis has worked with VBECCS for 15 years.
Her team are the people on the other side of the phone when you call for an emergency.
She said when it comes to the 4th of July, the holiday starts about a week before and lasts a week after due to the amount of calls they get for fireworks.
"Between about 8 p.m. until about 2 a.m. we're taking an average of 70 to 80 calls an hour," VanVoorhis, said. " Fielding those calls and probably 75% of those calls are fireworks calls."
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While there are several city-sponsored celebrations going on around Virginia Beach residents say often times fireworks shows still happen on neighborhood streets.
"You know it's probably in any neighborhood and if it's at like midnight it'll wake you up," Bob who lives in Virginia Beach, said.
When it comes to reporting these types of fireworks the city is asking you to call the non-emergency line at (757) 385 - 5000.
When you call you will hear a prompt asking if you're calling for fireworks.
It'll ask you if there's a fire and at that point, it's an emergency and 911 should be called.
However, if you're reporting just fireworks, you can be transferred to a non-emergency dispatcher or have a link sent to you to fill out information on where you're hearing those fireworks.
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"It's the most streamline, it keeps them off the phone, they don't have to talk to anybody and their information is being gathered just as quickly," VanVoorhis, said.
You don't have to fill out all your personal information on the report and the city says they want you to call if there is an emergency but they feel this new adjustment in reporting will help with overall response times.
"If you've got a neighborhood where fireworks are going off and you've got 5five to 10 people calling about the same fireworks we don't have to send five to 10 responders we put it all together in a nice little package and we sent it out to the responders that are going out," VanVoorhis said.
After July 4, the city said this way of reporting illegal fireworks will remain active if you call the non-emergency line.
