by Timothy Rutt
Ever since the time around Independence Day, we've heard (and gotten reports of) big "booms" being heard around Altadena. Some of this you can assign to illegal fireworks going off, but even as we go deep into July, it has't ended.
Public safety volunteer Carolyn Seitz has sent around an email with the sheriff's response
Many people across the community have been asking about the "loud booms" that seem to be coming from the Eaton Canyon area according to some of the discussions and/or from the areas west of Lake according to others. Some describe the loud sounds as firecrackers, cherry bombs, M-80's, or gunshots.
Some of you who have been posting on your neighborhood listservs also indicated that you heard a series of loud booms that seemed to travel from east to west, but the duration and number of booms you heard was relatively low - 3 or 4 booms in a moving sequence.
The Commander of the Detective Bureau at the Altadena Sheriff's Station, Detective Lt. Michael White indicated that only a couple of people called the Sheriff's Station Wednesday and/or Thursday night to report hearing these loud bursts.
The responding deputies were unable to locate the source of these booms.
If you continue to hear them and can provide any better info about where you think the source is, please call the Sheriff's Station to report it as quickly as possible.
Thank you for remaining vigilant. We're all being reminded that "IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING". Please continue to call the Sheriff's Station at 626 798 1131.
This has only gotten the neighborhood newsgroups riled up: one Chaney Trail neighborhood resident called them:
more like ground explosive shock waves (such as something very large being dropped from a great height or a rock blast) and less like sonic booms or upper atmospheric sounds from aircraft. They are deep, explosive sounds, sometimes sharp and short... perhaps quite distant, but with no significant echo (at least from my location).
Rather than coming from Eaton Canyon, they cailbrated them as north to slightly northeast of Chaney Trail.
Add to that increased helicopter activity: Dave Ford of Southern California Edison emails that crews using helicopters are working on repair and maintenance of infrastructure up in the foothills -- but could that cause booming?
What's YOUR idea?
