In Costa Mesa, police track down illegal fireworks on the Fourth
The sun was just beginning to set on Independence Day as police Officer Trevor Jones cruised up Joann Street on Costa Mesa’s Westside hunting for illegal fireworks.
The windows of his unmarked patrol car were open a crack so he could better hear the resounding booms of banned pyrotechnics such as cherry bombs, bottle rockets and aerial shells. He peered carefully up and down the neighborhood, where families and friends gathered outside to celebrate the holiday with food, music and fireworks — some legal and some not.
“It’s all fun until something bad happens,” Jones said. “We want people to enjoy their Fourth of July, but do it safely and not have any injuries as a result of it.”
Jones stopped the car on the corner of Joann Street and Pamela Lane and watched as a firework on the ground began to emit white sparks.
“Let’s see what they’re up to,” he said, pausing a moment to watch. “Well, that one looks legal.”
Just as he began to pull away, the sounds of a loud whistle and explosions shooting from the device jolted him to attention.
Jones questioned a group of people at the scene about whether they had any more such fireworks, and when told they didn’t, he left without issuing a citation.
Last year, Costa Mesa issued 79 citations related to illegal fireworks, about three times the number handed out the year before, according to police. The number of citations issued Tuesday was not immediately available.
The classic mark of illegal fireworks, and what makes them easier for law enforcement to identify, is that they typically shoot fireballs and other explosives into the air, Jones said.
“Safe and sane” fireworks — those that have the state fire marshal’s seal of approval on the packaging — don’t shoot aerials or cause loud explosions. They are legal to set off in Costa Mesa on the Fourth of July.
“If you purchase them from anywhere else other than a [city-permitted] stand, it’s probably not safe and sane,” said Costa Mesa fire Battalion Chief Kevin Diamond, who helped police officers identify illegal fireworks Tuesday night.
In California, it is a misdemeanor to possess, store, use or transport fireworks that don’t have the seal of approval. Doing so is punishable by a $1,000 fine and jail time. Sale of illegal fireworks and possession of more than 100 pounds of them is a felony.
Fireworks were involved in about 11,100 injuries treated in emergency rooms nationwide in 2016, according to a Consumer Product Safety Commission report, which did not specify the types of fireworks involved in the injuries.
The majority of injuries — about 69% — were burns, though some people sought treatment for contusions, lacerations and foreign objects in their eyes as a result of fireworks use, data show.
Of the four people nationwide who died using fireworks in 2016, three of them were lighting mortars.
Many Costa Mesa residents have regularly complained about the widespread use of banned fireworks, which also include firecrackers, with some saying their neighborhoods sound like war zones around the holiday.
But residents who don’t want their celebrations hampered by what they see as overbearing and unnecessary rules skirt the law. Some, Jones said, genuinely don’t realize the difference between legal and illegal types of fireworks, so he takes time to explain.
Costa Mesa police employed proactive measures leading up to the holiday this year in an effort to quell the use of illegal pyrotechnics in the city.
During undercover sting operations over the past three weeks, officers seized more than 2,000 pounds of illegal fireworks that were being sold online, according to the Police Department.
Cadets hung fliers in neighborhoods where people typically use illegal fireworks, and the department posted reminders and videos on social media and placed digital billboards at the entrances to the city to remind people of the zero-tolerance policy for illegal fireworks.
Still, banned devices filled the air with noise and light Tuesday, and officers were out in force trying to stop them.
As soon as one fireworks call was cleared, another popped up.
On Ross Street, a family sat on the roof of their home to watch as their neighbors set off mortars that lighted the sky in shades of green, white and red. Car alarms set off by the thunderous blasts sounded in the distance.
Nearby, two 14-year-old boys stood in a field of dry grass next to a park shooting off a roman candle — which ejects exploding shells — toward the second story of a house in front of them.
After a brief chat with Jones about the difference between legal and illegal fireworks and where to safely set off the legal ones, the boys handed over their stash of roman candles, which one of the boys told Jones he found in a trash can.
“Did they know the difference?” Jones said as he climbed back into his car. “Probably not. I’m not looking to bust these kids, but we try to educate them so they make better decisions when they’re older.”
At about 9 p.m. at one home on the Westside, more than 50 people standing on the street setting off fireworks became angry when Jones pulled up to write citations and confiscate the contraband.
Aerial fireworks launched from the home’s backyard exploded overhead as Jones, backed up by other officers, wrote tickets for two men and took what fireworks they were willing to hand over.
Officers don’t have the authority to enter someone’s home without consent to search for illegal fireworks, which presents an enforcement challenge when people set them off in backyards, Jones said.
“There’s not much we can do in that case,” he said.
People in the crowd hollered every time a firework exploded above their heads. A few yelled profanities at the officers, while others questioned whether the police were planning to cite every person using illegal fireworks.
It’s a question Jones is asked frequently.
“We may not get them all, but we’re going to do the best we can,” he said.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
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