For several minutes Thursday night, social media lit up almost as quickly as the sky.
Residents across the Kitchissippi area — and as far away as Ottawa’s west end — reported hearing an unusually loud barrage of fireworks that many said rattled homes and left them wondering whether an unscheduled display, or even an emergency, was unfolding.
According to Ottawa’s By-law and Regulatory Services, the fireworks were authorized by the federal government and set off after Cody Johnson rapped up his Bluesfest performance at LeBreton Flats.
“I have reviewed the matter and can confirm that the fireworks in question were authorized by the Federal Government,” the department said in a statement. “These fireworks were related to the Canada Day display and consisted of fireworks that had not been ignited during the scheduled event. The fireworks were subsequently discharged to facilitate the safe removal of the fireworks equipment from the site.”
Lemieux Island has been closed since just before Canada Day while crews prepared for the annual fireworks display. After record rainfall forced the July 1 show to be cancelled, the site cornered off while officials determined how to safely deal with the unexploded shells.
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper said he later learned Canadian Heritage determined the safest option was to dispose of the fireworks on site.
“It was deemed by Canadian Heritage that it was safer to dispose of them that way rather than dismantle and move them, so they took this step in conjunction with Bluesfest,” Leiper wrote on social media.
While he understood the rationale, Leiper questioned why residents were not given advance notice.
“I’ll say for the moment that those seemed to have been let off over a very compressed timeframe and so were very intense,” he said. “Coming off the very intense storms we just had, and the general discomfort that people are feeling in a very unsettled time, the decision to take this step with no notice that I can discern is hard to understand.”
Ottawa’s By-law and Regulatory Services said the display was properly authorized and, as a result, no further action will be taken.