Police believe a Post Falls man lit a pipe bomb to celebrate the Fourth of July on Thursday night.

Post Falls police Capt. Greg McLean said metal fragments, believed to have come from a pipe bomb, were collected from the residence on Nike Court west of Spokane Street and south of Prairie Avenue.

Neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion - different from that of aerial fireworks - at 11 p.m.

"The suspect denies that it was a pipe bomb," McLean said. "He claims it was just something he bought off of the reservation."

McLean said the case will be turned over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for investigation.

"They have better forensic abilities when it comes to making pipe bombs," he said.

No injuries were reported as a result of the explosion.

McLean said it seemed like there were more illegal fireworks being shot in Post Falls this year than previous years, but this year's numbers were not available on Friday.

"We do our best to respond to fireworks calls, but other calls such as domestic disputes or burglaries will get priority," he said.

McLean said that, due to the high number of calls on the Fourth and limited time, many fireworks complaints result in warnings rather than citations.

In Coeur d'Alene, police responded to more than 500 calls for service over the Fourth.

"That's way high for us," police Chief Wayne Longo said Friday.

"Most were noise complaints and there were a few fights, but nothing got way out of hand."

Longo said the biggest issue was traffic control as many residents parked in North Idaho College parking lots because downtown parking was limited by construction.

"The education corridor made for good parking, but it put a lot of people in one area," he said. "It took 15 to 20 minutes longer than normal to flush the traffic out of downtown."

Coeur d'Alene Police logged about 60 alcohol offenses - most in City Park and surrounding areas where the public celebration was held. Longo said that with the warm weather, police anticipated a huge crowd, so the plan was to keep a close eye on alcohol offenders early.

"We started patrolling (mid-afternoon) and, within the first hour and a half, we contacted a lot of people," Longo said. "A few didn't realize (alcohol was illegal in the park), but most of them had it hidden. We observed people pouring it into cups."

About 50 of the Coeur d'Alene calls were fireworks complaints.

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office had 22 fireworks complaints over the holiday compared to 23 last year.

The county's dispatch center, which handles Coeur d'Alene calls, had 907 total calls for service on Wednesday and Thursday compared to 750 the same time last year.

KCSO Lt. Stu Miller said the busy times are expected to continue this weekend with Bayview Daze and other Fourth celebrations continuing.

Cd'A chamber closes in on fireworks goal

The Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce is closing in on its $30,000 goal for its fireworks fund. As of Thursday, $16,500 had been raised. The nonprofit also expects about $10,000 in parking fees to be generated.