A number of events are taking place throughout the city to mark the 150th anniversary of D.C. Emancipation Day, including a parade, fireworks show and mobile scavenger hunt. more ›

Strapped for time and haven't yet had the chance to click through our photographic recap of Monday's fireworks? No worries. Thanks to our friends at the Capital Weather Gang, this time lapse video can provide you with the full experience in but 63 seconds. more ›

Woo, fireworks! Here it is, our annual day-after recap of last night's blindingly colorful displays of explosives around the District, captured through the lenses of our Flickr pool photographers. Enjoy. more ›

Did your neighborhood resemble a Revolutionary War battlefield late last night? The Washingtonian tradition of treating the Fourth of July as the annual opportunity to engage our inner Michael Bay is common knowledge -- but according to reports, the evening's street fireworks probably could have been even louder. more ›

In case you didn't believe us regarding that whole "95 percent of the city's legal fireworks vendors are located in Wards 4, 5, 7 and 8" thing, here's the visual proof. more ›

The Fourth of July is right around the corner. And you know what that means. That's right -- a whole evening of people setting off fireworks at all hours, leading some to believe that their apartments are being overtaken by guerrilla forces. (Oh, and look at that -- it falls on a Monday this year! How nice.) more ›

I know you're all excited about the dawning of a new Lunar New Year -- but as you usher in the Year of the Rabbit, if you could at least move the mass illegal fireworks display outdoors, that would really be great. Unfortunately, that little bit of common sense was lost on a group of merrymakers at the Eden Shopping Center in Falls Church. more ›

Let this be a lesson to you: narrow alleyways in Petworth are probably not the best place to be shooting off explosives. I mean, unless you like shrapnel in the eye. It wouldn't be summer time if there wasn't video proof that fireworks are crazy and those who set them off are kind of nuts, now would it? Thanks to an anonymous Petworthian for the terrifyingly hilarious footage. more ›

It's a day-after-the-Fourth DCist tradition: a collection of the best fireworks images from the Mall and beyond from our Flickr contributors. Woo, America! more ›

The Fourth of July means barbecues, patriotism and fireworks. And while the District has long been known for it's improvised neighborhood displays of colorful explosives, the city Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs wants to make sure that you're only buying your fireworks from legal and licensed vendors. Today DCRA rolled out a handy Google map of the 24 locations across the city where you can legally buy permitted fireworks for your Independence Day celebration. Every quadrant but SW has a licensed vendor; for lots of options hit up Ward 5, which has eight vendors alone. Remember -- regardless of where you get your fireworks, anything that explodes, moves or has a flame greater than 12 feet (full regulations here in .PDF) is a no-go in the District. Of course, that won't stop those crafty kids in your neighborhood, who tend to feel that making the District seem a little more like Kandahar is an appropriate way of celebrating America's independence. more ›

View Approved DC Fireworks Stands 2009 in a larger map more ›

So sayeth City Paper's Jason Cherkis, who first broke this now kinda funny story on Sunday. From the D.C. FEMS press release:

The District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department met with the Washington Nationals to identify additional measures to ensure spectator safety during pyrotechnic activities at Nationals Park. These new measures will be put in place to serve as an additional layer of protection to reduce debris when fireworks are used during the National Anthem, when the team takes the field, and during the Nationals’ homeruns and victories. Normal pyrotechnic activities will resume for the next home game.

In case you missed it over the weekend, yesterday City Desk reported the bizarre news that D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin went to the Nats game and subsequently shut down the ballpark's long-running fireworks display for the foreseeable future. The ballpark reportedly has the correct permits and nothing unusual happened at Sunday's game, so what's the deal? Apparently, some bits of debris fell on the chief himself:

Fire Department spokesperson Alan Etter confirmed the basic account via e-mail. more ›

As usual, the photographers in the DCist Flickr pool got some great shots of the fireworks down at the National Mall this Independence Day. Click through our gallery to see some of the best. How many of you folks braved the rain to go watch this year? more ›

Mayor Adrian Fenty held a news conference yesterday to announce his support for emergency legislation that would ban the sale and use of all consumer fireworks in the District. The bill is set to be introduced to the D.C. Council on Tuesday. more ›