DENVER, Colorado — Denver's Congress Park neighborhood is known for its quiet, historic streets.
That’s no longer the case for the people living in the blocks surrounding 13th Avenue and Josephine Street.
For the past few weeks, loud noises resembling fireworks have kept residents awake. Clare Kelly lives in the area and said it starts at about 8:30 p.m. and goes until close to 10:30 p.m.
Kelly’s neighbor, Laurie-Ann Mills, said it typically “tends to happen around the weekend, like Saturday to Tuesday.”
Over the weekend, Kelly became so frustrated, she took to Nextdoor - a social networking service for neighborhoods - posting “ARGH! More Loud Booms.”
Kelly said she can’t explain what they are or why they’re going off when they are, but described the noise as something akin to an M-80-type firework.
She wasn’t the only one to turn to Nextdoor.
Since March 9, six people have posted in the Congress Park Neighborhood Nextdoor complaining of the noise.
Kelly pointed out it’s not exactly prime season for fireworks.
Mills said it’s like the Fourth of July every night they go off, similar to “New Year’s or a Broncos Superbowl. Yeah, imagine that, because it’s not just one, it’s like two, three, four. It’s enough to really startle you.”
Mills’ concern is for the “the people, the pets, and the property.” She lives in a 119-year-old home made of brick and wood.
“What if it lands on somebody’s roof and one of these beautiful 100-year old plus homes gets burned down? Then we’re all at a loss in this neighborhood,” she said, speculating the noise is the result of some sort of “mortar shell type firework.”
Mills said the noises were coming from an alley southeast of her home on 13th Avenue and Josephine Street.
Other neighbors pointed 9NEWS in all different directions when trying to identify the origin of the noises.
Tyler Pierce said he believes they’re coming from the alley between York and Josephine streets from 13th to 14th avenues. He said he sometimes walks through the alley after midnight and sees activity involving drugs and sex.
“We live a few blocks from Colfax," Mills said. There’s a lot of street people. It’s a high-crime area. Maybe somebody is trying to deter people."
Kelly called that idea is an “interesting thought” but pointed out that we don’t know the motivation of the person responsible.
“We do have a lot of folks living on the streets here now, for sure, and it puts pressure on the neighborhoods, most definitely,” Kelly said.
After walking through at least 10 alleys in the area surrounding 13th Avenue and Josephine Street, 9NEWS didn’t find any evidence of fireworks to identify the origin of the noises.
Mills said she’s hoping whoever is responsible joins the discussion in a more positive way.
“Get on Nextdoor. Let’s all get together. Let’s go to our town council meeting, city council meetings, let’s talk to our representatives, let’s find better ways to get solutions," she said. "If you want to be heard, there are better ways than mortar shells at two in the morning."
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