Brea : Council to Discuss City Ban on Fireworks Sales

The traditional backyard Fourth of July fireworks display may be a thing of the past if city officials on Tuesday decide to ban the sale and use of fireworks.

At their last meeting, City Council members split 3 to 2 on whether to ask the staff to draw up such an ordinance. Mayor Clarice Blamer was one of the three who asked for the ordinance, referring to the Nov. 5 election in which a majority of voters said they wanted the ban.

“Since the majority of the people in our election wanted to adopt an ordinance, unless they convince me otherwise, I will probably vote for the ordinance,” Blamer said, adding that fireworks represent a safety hazard and often result in fires.

Councilman Gene Leyton disagreed. He said that statistics do not show any problems with fireworks in the city and that results from the advisory vote on Nov. 5 were too close to represent “a mandate from the people to ban fireworks.”

During the Nov. 5 election, 1,732 residents said they would like to ban fireworks in the city while 1,432 said they want to maintain the status quo, City Clerk Donna Rhine said. Brea has 17,926 registered voters out of a population of 31,700, Rhine said.

Brea Fire Marshal Bud Moody said four local fires were related to last year’s Fourth of July fireworks celebrations. Three of the fires were associated with so-called safe and sane fireworks, which are legal, and the fourth fire was related to dangerous fireworks, those such as cherry bombs, bottle rockets and firecrackers, Moody said.