Twin Cities Police Report "Quiet" Day on 4th of July

Nevermind the fireworks, it was a pretty quiet 4th of July in the Twin Cities aside from a power outage just before the Larkspur-Corte Madera Parade on Wednesday morning.

Twin Cities Police reported a quiet day Wednesday.

The California Highway Patrol Marin Area arrested four drivers total for driving under the influence over the July 4th holiday. That number is a major drop from the 10 arrested last year during the same reporting period. Additionally, the Marin CHP reports there were no fatal collisions over the July 4th holiday.

We were lucky, compared with several other Patch cities around the country.

Along with the usual Fourth of July fires and boating accidents — not to mention power outages on the East Coast — a few distinctive fails stand out:

In the San Diego Bay area, an expected half-million people were briefly dazzled and then bitterly disappointed after three of four barges' worth of fireworks went off at once last night. 

"Instead of a sustained Big Bay Boom fireworks show, fireworks from the Imperial Beach Pier and on barges in San Diego Bay were launched all at once Wednesday evening," according to Imperial Beach Patch.

"Shortly before 9 p.m., fireworks exploded in one massive shot which lasted about 30 seconds for a crowd of thousands in IB and hundreds of thousands across San Diego," the Imperial Beach Patch article continues.

Thousands of people crowded into a park in Lakewood, Ohio were left waiting for hours before the planned fireworks display was canceled due to a power outage, .

In Clearwater, Fla., a 74-year-old man was struck in the face by a falling bullet fired in the air during Fourth of July revelry, according to . He was treated at a hospital and released with stitches.

Kingsville, Md. Fourth of July parade organizers and spectators were surprised to see that a float entered as an "antique vehicle" . 

Have you ever had to cope with a fireworks fail, a freaky float or any other Fourth of July emergency? We'd love to hear about it.

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