Police investigate after hearing loud fireworks, and locals react

Billings, Montana – When Billings Police arrived on scene on Saturday night, they discovered that the explosion was really a firework that had been detonated inside a car, close to the intersection of Miles Avenue and 5th Street West.

Before Saturday’s incident, the car had already been destroyed and defaced, according to a statement on the Billings Police Facebook page.

When the incident happened, it was around 11:30 p.m., and locals Jim and Dar Aldrich weren’t sure what had happened.

“I was downstairs listening to stuff and all of the sudden, I heard this big boom,” Jim Aldrich said.

The Aldriches claim that neither of them truly recognized what had happened, which only serves to further compound the shocking situation. They are both blind.

“Well, I heard the same thing he did,” Dar Aldrich said. “I’m not brave enough to open the door to figure it out, so we just stayed inside.”

They frequently rely on their hearing, according to Dar, so something unanticipated like this can be unsettling.

“We’re used to traffic going by all the time,” Aldrich said. “But when it’s something loud like a tire popping, that can be a little scary.”

She added that although the sudden noise startled her, the experience didn’t particularly surprise her.

“With all of the event that are happening these days, I always get worried that we might have an incident in (Terry Park),” Aldrich said.

The owner of the car disputes that there is an inquiry and that there are any known suspects in a statement posted on the Police Facebook page.

Jim Aldrich expressed his happiness that no one was gravely injured.

“It did startle me a little, but I just figured it was a big firework,” Aldrich said. “It’s good no one was injured, but I didn’t think much more of it than that.”

Dar is concerned that the noise may eventually get much worse even if it seems to be less of a problem than the Aldriches had initially thought.

“I used to be able to get out and walk, and then the police came and said please don’t do that late at night,” Aldrich said. “We just never know what noise is going to happen next.”