July 5, 2026 7:30p
(WGTD)---Katherine Moriarity is among those Racinians who are dealing with the unintended consequences of somebody using illegal fireworks.
She woke up in the early morning hours of the 5th to discover that her garage was on fire. While no one in her household in the 3400 blk. of 5th Ave. had been using fireworks on the 4th, it seemed that many of her neighbors in all directions were.
The fire department believes one of the projectiles landed on the roof of her garage, leaving the structure a total loss and scorching the garage of her back neighbor.
The blaze was one of three early Sunday morning in Racine that the fire department attributed to illegal fireworks. Another occurred in a dumpster in the 2000 blk. of Lathrop Ave. The dumpster and an adjacent fence were heavily damaged. The third blaze in the 2800 blk of Brentwood Dr. heavily damaged the rear of a home.
The three fires in all caused nearly $150,000 in damage. No injuries were reported in any of them.
Katherine spoke to WGTD Sunday afternoon as she watched a neighbor attempting to hook up a portable generator to power her home. We Energies wouldn't reconnect power until a city inspector came by.
While she's renting and won't be responsible for replacing the garage, she and her fiancee lost stuff that had been stored inside. They also had two vehicles that were parked in the driveway scorched from the heat.
Moriarity likes the northside neighborhood where she's lived for the past three years and has had no problems with any of her neighbors. She just hopes they all learned a lesson that they won't forget on the next 4th of July.
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