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Esplanade evacuated as Mother Nature puts on own fireworks display
By adamg on Wed, 07/04/2012 - 10:12pm
Photo of some real fireworks by Tmccool.
State officials started evacuating the Esplanade around 9:30 as a potentially violent thunderstorm headed toward the thousands of people crammed in there for the Pops concert and fireworks. Channel 5 reports many sang "God Bless America" as they filed into the Storrow Drive tunnel. Concertgoers on the Boston side were also given shelter in the Hynes Convention Center garage.
The storm, however, passed the Esplanade by and shortly after 10 p.m., state and Boston police began letting people back onto the Esplanade, after the National Weather Service declared the area safe again.
WBZ meteorologist Barry Burbank tweets authorities made the right call:
Bottom line is safety of every person. With the frequent vivid lightning nearby, officials called the evacuation then the storm died!
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Comments
Occupy Esplanade?
Are they dragging off and zip-tying anyone who wouldn't give up their cherished spot?
to swrrly grrl
Could you give it a rest for one night, Angry Spice?
Stunning photo! The crowd is having a blast and the cops have been respectful and courteous despite what a certain disgruntled suburbanite might say who clearly wasn't / isn't even there!
actually, she's not far off
2 years ago, I watched one of the Charles River tour boats (which are huge) ram some moored boats when the pilot lost control (it suddenly accelerated, turning hard, while trying to navigate through too tight a space), then motored off. Total hit-and-run. It was a miracle nobody was killed, because there were kayakers and canoes and even people on cheap pool toys.
There was a huge police presence - multiple coast guard boats, several DCR boats, and several state police boats, including one huge one.
People tried to get the state police boat to do something; I called 911, as did a bunch of others. They didn't do anything. A screaming match started between the cops on the huge state police boat and the boats that had been rammed, with people pointing to the tour boats and yelling. It ended with the staties jumping onto the boats, throwing people to the deck, arresting them, and dragging them onto the big SP boat.
So yes, actually: they do behave like jackbooted thugs. That was the same year that a drunk off-duty state cop threatened everyone at the Cambridge public docks with arrest if they didn't get out of the way of his personal boat because *he* wanted to dock; the guy who was volunteering basically to act like a dockhand, tying/untying boats and helping offload people/stuff, told the guy to buzz off and wait his turn. Reported that to 911 too - right down to his location, boat registration number/name, the fact that he was slurring his speech, etc. Even flagged down a DCR boat, and they basically shrugged and drove off, despite the fact that the guy was drunk.
Heaven help you if you don't know exactly what's going on, or don't move instantly when you're motioned at - you'll get snarled/yelled at, threatened, etc. All the state police expect you to magically know exactly what's going on or what you should do, and despite the fact that they're earning several days of insane overtime, just to stand around and talk with their buddies about how much they hate Deval Patrick...they act like someone just punched their dog.
Also: seems a fair number of people on twitter are pissed that the cops told them the fireworks would be delayed, when they went off exactly on time. Basically, the cops lied to get people off the Esplanade...
Interesting how we interpret things...
Not knowing the background of the discussion, I assumed she was taking a shot at the people who camp out all day for a prime spot (with only a small volley fired at overaggressive cops).
Oops...
I missed the "Occupy" header that gave it more context. Still, I'd pick on the indignant front row sitters before the meanie cops.
it's tough to be a state police pulling in $90+ k annually
Upper middle class tough...
"and despite the fact that they're earning several days of insane overtime, just to stand around and talk with their buddies about how much they hate Deval Patrick...they act like someone just punched their dog."
Was it live?
One Facebook friend's comment suggests that the TV broadcast of most of the concert was from last night's rehearsal (she was there, and was seeing herself on TV tonight). Presumably an evacuation doesn't make for quite as uplifting television.
Just a song or two
They left just before the 1812 overture which ended up prerecorded and came back one song into the national show after they played a previously recorded Jennifer Hudson song.
No fireworks at end of 1812 Overture this year?
We watched the fireworks (and the awesome lightning storm before them) from an 8th floor balcony in Coolidge Corner. As we heard the 1812 Overture end, we did not see any fireworks from this location, though we saw the 'regular' fireworks just fine from 10:35 to 11 pm. Did they decide not to shoot off the usual short fireworks at the end of this music?
No 1812 on the 4th
Best I can tell (CBS, unable to show the fireworks over any and all landmarks regardless of how far from the river they are, did not do a good job indicating what was broadcast live vs. pre-recorded), the 1812 was not played yesterday, as it would have happened during the evacuation. We were shown a recording of the rehearsal from the day before. I understand the fireworks barge was also evacuated at this time. So, no live 1812, and no one around the light the candle.
Give them some credit
Jack and Lisa pointed out that the place was cleared and that they'd be playing the 1812 overture from the night before.
The beginning of the national coverage with Chiklis coming off of that stupid "Buzz" Tour bus (you could tell even he couldn't come up with a good ad-lib for it to be there) was not labeled as pre-recorded right away though. It was about 20-30s in when the label came up and they aired a Jennifer Hudson number from last night (all while not putting the "Live" button up). Then they broke for commercial and when they came back, Chiklis said that they were live and the little button finally came up for Live.
It was a little wishy-washy when they switched from local to national coverage, but it was pretty clear when they were pre-recorded or not.
Ehhh...
I actually think they did an okay job over all; they switched smoothly from live to pre-recorded and back. I just think a crawl along the bottom would have helped for anyone not glued to the coverage (or who might be inclined to mute the commercials). Would have also been helpful for anyone in the area who was planning on headed to the river to watch the fireworks.
The fireworks were really fabulous this year.
I was on the Esplanade with a friend who'd gotten to the Oval (in the immediate vicinity of the Hatchshell at four o'clock that morning) for the afternoon and evening. All people at the Oval had to wear wrist bracelets, which wasn't so terrible, but having to stand in long, slow lines, even when one was already wearing a wrist bracelet, coming back from getting something to eat or walking around, etc., and having to have one's bag searched, even if they'd already been in the Oval and knew who the people were, kind of put a damper on what could've been a thoroughly enjoyable day. The Homeland Security experience at the Oval was rather dreadful. I went through that once, saw it up close, and, if I come to the Esplanade for next year's 4th of july Event, i'll stake out a place nearer to the river.
>> The Homeland Security
>> The Homeland Security experience at the Oval was rather dreadful.
I'm sure the irony was lost on the cops.
America's Best Paid High School Band
Absolutely embarrassing. If that karaoke-like ABBA performance is the price of liberty, then I say bring back King George.
Did anyone notice....
that on the radio simulcast, they got the words to Sweet Caroline wrong?
They were claiming it was live coverage on 99.5, but since the disclaimers weren't so great, I'm not sure if it was from this year or a few years back.
How Long?
So, I can't really imagine an orderly evacuation of the Esplanade into the Storrow Drive tunnel. How long did that take?
I was on the outer part by the lagoon
where the large majority of people didn't evacuate at all. It was mostly just families with children rushing off to the tunnels, etc.
They only evacuated the "official" part of the Esplanade
Those of us packed into the BU part of the Esplanade had no idea what was going on. We were all like, hey awesome lightning...is this even safe...hey awesome lightning!
Then again, that part of the Esplanade featured someone launching bottlerockets and several bongs...
I've been on the Esplanade
I've been on the Esplanade when there were a million people. 99% of people were well behaved. I can't recall ever seeing any serious incident when I've been down there. Speaks well of Boston,I guess.
'Serious incident' on Esplanade - 1994
I've only once ever heard of a 'serious incident' on the Esplanade, but it was a doozy: the Green Day Riot of 1994, brought to you by WFNX.
i was there... sophomore at
i was there... sophomore at boston university. it was a little crazy!
Lightning show + Fireworks show in Wakefield
They started the fireworks show early.
perfect timing and the rain held off until well after
I'm sure someone has photos
Sorry, The "evacuation" was
Sorry, The "evacuation" was NOT orderly at all. To my eyes, it appeared chaotic, inefficient and uncoordinated. If there had been an actual emergency, we would have been really screwed. Despite a massive police and military presence, there was hardly even an appearance of directing human traffic or communicating information, save orders to evacuate. They did not seem to know what was going on themselves. Masses of people were standing, for long periods of time, at bottlenecks waiting to get across the 2 narrow bridges from the river to the Storrow Drive side of the Esplanade. The footbridges were closed off and access points were strictly limited. Lots of people just continued home once they reached freedom. Others chose to stay put and were rewarded with riverside seats for the fireworks display which inevitably occurred about 45 minutes later when the "evacuation" was called off and the herd reversed its path.
To correct this morning's sloppy Globe reporting, the rain did not actually start until after the fireworks began. Then we all got a real soaking. In the end, the fireworks were magnificent, despite the rain and mud. It will be a long time before I return though. Not a reassuring Homeland Security experience at all.
Very accurate! No info on
Very accurate! No info on whether the show would resume - police acting like lightning was
striking all around us, which it wasn't, not allowing us to get to the Boston side. Walked several miles back to the car and saw the fireworks in the rear view mirror on our way back to NH. Will not go again if there is even a chance of someone sneezing wrong that will cause the nannies to call an evacuation. Just like Massachusetts.
I suggest you read this piece
I suggest you read this piece regarding last night's weather --
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/...
Of course it's easier to call Massachusetts a nanny state that to actually think.
Stay in NH then next time
and throw a few dollars our way for road wear and tear.
Less than 2 miles away 2 people were struck by lightning in south boston. The police and event officials did the right thing.
It's all bootstrappiness and claims of nanny-staism until it's your family or children that were injured.
Also,
A couple of people on Mission Hill were struck by lightning the other night and taken to Brigham & Women's Hospital.
Can we borrow that crystal ball of yours?
I'm assuming you've developed a way to accurately predict when and where lightening will strike? You could have assured the authorities that while yes, two people would indeed be struck that night, none of them would be on the river bank, correct? You really should share this ability; it will save lives.
Evacuation ridiculous
Very accurate! No info on whether the show would resume - police acting like lightning was
striking all around us, which it wasn't, not allowing us to get to the Boston side. Walked several miles back to the car and saw the fireworks in the rear view mirror on our way back to NH. Will not go again if there is even a chance of someone sneezing wrong that will cause the nannies to call an evacuation. Just like Massachusetts.
Incongruous song choice by US Navy band
The WBZ-TV coverage showed a US Navy band singing Age of Aquarius -- which is from the 1960s anti-war musical Hair.
(I have no idea whether this was live or Memorex.)
One Question
Why are the fireworks so late these days?
When I was in college and living in Kenmore Square, they were just after dark - rarely later than 8:30 or 9 pm. Such a long day even then! When we went to the Community Boating event in the 90s a couple of times, they were similarly early, and I remember them being just a little later than the usual little kid bedtime when we would watch them out our dining room window or from The Farm in Arlington when the kids were small.
Two words:
National Coverage
And ...
On the West Coast, my family would watch the National Coverage of displays in DC, NYC or Boston before heading out to the local displays.
Not sure why that should matter.
Couldn't have been at 8:30 pm, ever
I too remember much earlier fireworks, but not 8:30 pm. Sunset is at 8:24 pm. 9 or 9:30 is more likely.
I so much wish that CBS would cancel this national TV show so that we could have a properly local celebration at a reasonable hour. July 5 is a work day for most people most years.
Dusk
They used to light them off at dusk. It wasn't fully dark at least one of the years we were sitting in a sailboat at the dock at Community Boating, and I very much remember sitting on the roofdeck on Bay State Road with the young relatives of some housemates and it not being fully dark at the start, either.
About 9:30
Before national coverage took over, the concert used to start at 8:00, last about an hour and a half, then they'd have the fireworks. It would all be over just before 10:00.
And they would set off a few during the 1812, so maybe those were the earlier ones people remember.
orderly and calm
Was walking on Storrow a block or two away from the Hatch Shell when the evacuation was announced. Not only were there no problems, but people were cracking jokes and moving along calmly. That's pretty good for the amount of people that were there!
I agree. The peaceful, mostly
I agree. The peaceful, mostly sober people were the saving grace of the "evacuation". Luckily.
I was one of the ones who joined the evacuation to the tunnell
and agree that it was calm and orderly.
Cambridge-side
Did any evac happen in Cambridge? One of the stations reported that people were evacuated to the Cambridgeside Mall, which seemed impractical.
Large (or semi-large)
Large (or semi-large) sheltered spaces were pre-planned as evac gathering points so most folks along the river would have somewhere to go to. Cambridgeside Galleria and MIT on that side; the Hynes, the Storrow tunnel, the Boston Common Garage, and Mass Eye&Ear Hospital on this side. They also pre-planned with circulating fans and air-quality monitors for the tunnel space; and buses & wheelchair vans on standby for people in the handicapped-accessible seating section.