Neither Holiday Traffic Nor Cooler Day Deters Beach-Bound Crowds

It was just an ordinary Fourth of July.

Grown men stayed up till 2:30 a.m. packing barbecue forks. Families charged out of bed at 4 a.m. to stake out turf near the beach. Highway traffic stopped dead, boats collided, fights broke out. A good time was had by all.

“I know it’s kind of crazy,” said Joe Martinez at 10:30 a.m., logging in his fifth hour at a picnic table on Vacation Isle. “But we think it’s worth it.”

All day, San Diegans fled to the sea like lemmings.

They began arriving at city beaches at 4:30 a.m., the police said. By 6 a.m., the picnic tables in Mission Bay Park were nearly all taken. The park’s parking lots were half-full by 7:30 a.m. Two hours later, they were packed and closed.

The police quickly closed West Mission Bay Drive and Mission Boulevard, blocking access to Mission Beach from the south. Drivers resorted to parking at Fiesta Island and walking or taking public transportation. Others relentlessly cruised neighborhood streets for spots.

“It’s 100 degrees in El Cajon, and I’m not going back there,” said Bob Wells as his wife tried to shade the potato salad and their three children wailed in the back seat. Then he added, with some determination, “I’ll find a parking space.”

Elsewhere, Harbor Police Officer Raymond Connor cracked dryly, “They’re going to have to park in L.A. and walk in.”

By 10:30 a.m., westbound traffic on Interstate 8 had slowed to a crawl as far east as Interstate 5. Traffic in both directions on I-5 was backed up from Balboa Avenue to I-8.

Crowd estimates were 200,000 people on San Diego city beaches, and another 30,000 on county beaches. Authorities reported hit-and-run boat accidents, fisticuffs and characteristic Fourth of July mayhem. But they said neither the crowds nor the conflict was worse than usual.

“It’s just a beautiful Fourth of July, is what it is,” said Joe Bunn, a county lifeguard.

Law-enforcement officials had feared monstrous crowds and spreading fires, after the record-breaking temperatures and devastating brush fires of the past week. But coastal temperatures dropped to the norm for early July, reaching only 73 at Lindbergh Field. Interior temperatures dropped, too.

Also normal were the crowds at Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, where a San Clemente goat was to make its debut in a new sea lion show. At the Del Mar Fair, officials reported a strong but still uncounted turnout. The Coronado parade drew a crowd of about 100,000.

By early evening, there were no new reports of brush fires, which officials had feared would be sparked by illegal fireworks. The fire near De Luz, believed to have been ignited Monday by exploding ammunition at Camp Pendleton, was declared 95% contained. Forestry officials revised their estimate of the area affected from 15,000 acres down to 8,425.

Fears of fire apparently led to the cancellation of the Rancho Bernardo fireworks show. Many people did not find out until they arrived in Rancho Bernardo in the early evening and were turned away. Police said they had heard that the show was canceled because of fear of fire, but no one seemed to know who had made the decision.

In Pacific Beach, Stephen and Molly Renteria and their daughter Jenny got up before 5 a.m. to drive six blocks and nab a shaded picnic table on Vacation Isle. Mission accomplished, they deposited their barbecue equipment. Then they drove home, left the car, and walked back.

J. Otis Williams of La Mesa stayed up packing barbecue equipment and food until 2:30 a.m. Then he went to bed and got up in time to reach the Mission Bay Park parking lots just as they opened for business at 4 a.m.

“I don’t mind getting up early,” said Williams, who by 10:30 had filled three buckets with barbecued ribs, chicken and hamburgers. “We’re going to be here close to 24 hours, and I’m going to make sure we have enough to eat.”

No one seemed to find their own behavior strange.

Kevin Apman, picnicking in Mission Bay Park, said, “I called up a friend of mine at 8:30 this morning and he said, ‘What the hell are you calling this early for? It’s a holiday.’ I just assumed everybody was up and on their way to the beach!”