SPARTANBURG CO., S.C. (WSPA) – Residents of Rock Springs, a neighborhood southwest of Spartanburg, usually enjoy peace and quiet.

On Tuesday night, though, a loud boom shook the neighborhood.

Several residents called 911 to report it.

“We felt it in the house,” said Gaynelle West-Brown, who lives in Rock Springs. “I don’t know the exact time it was, but it jarred the windows.”

West-Brown was not one of the area residents who called emergency services, but she said she and her husband were frightened.

“We have a little dog and he started barking,” she said. “We looked at each other and just did not know what it was.”

She said the two waited to see if another loud boom would happen. Despite their anticipation of another noise, none came.

Across the neighborhood, other residents said the mysterious boom shook their entire homes.

“I was lying in bed after work and school and hanging out with some friends, watching Netflix,” Gabrielle Cline said. “Then this super loud boom happened.”

Cline said the boom lasted for five or 10 seconds before it went away.

She also told 7 News Tuesday night wasn’t the first time she’d heard that sound.

“They’ve happened before but not super often,” she said. 

She recalled hearing the last one being within the past year.

Tommy Norris, Chief of the Poplar Springs Fire Department, said there have been several explosions in the area over the past two years.

He said some of them have likely been caused by someone setting off modified fireworks with the intention of scaring people.

“This began about two years ago in this area,” Norris said. “We would receive complaints for explosions, we’d go out, never find anything, no witnesses, nobody saw anything.”

About a year ago, his department found one of the explosives that had failed to detonate.

“It was homemade. They took some existing fireworks and modified them,” he said. “We took those and turned them over to the sheriff’s department.”

Norris said safety is a concern due to the explosive nature of the devices.

More than that, he said the creator of the explosives will likely land in trouble if found.

“If they’re found, and the sheriff’s department deems it so, it could be a serious criminal offense,” he said.

If you have any information on the booms, contact the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.