Huntington Beach : Council Decides Against Outlawing All Fireworks

Despite a request from the city’s fire chief to outlaw all fireworks in Huntington Beach, the City Council has decided to continue to permit the sale of so-called safe-and-sane fireworks.

Fire Chief Raymond C. Picard suggested that a fireworks ban be included in the city’s revised uniform fire code. But the council disagreed and asked that language referring to a ban on fireworks be scrapped. In a report to the council, Picard stated that Huntington Beach has a bigger problem than other cities with fireworks because of the large numbers of closely spaced houses with flammable wood-shingle roofs.

Moreover, he argued, the “permitted use of safe-and-sane fireworks contributes to the motivational use of (illegal) fireworks.”

Picard noted that although all fireworks have been banned on both state and city beach areas within the city, “the beaches are a war zone on the Fourth of July.”

Many cities, including Huntington Beach, have been reluctant to ban the sale of safe-and-sane fireworks because nonprofit organizations argue that it is only through the sale of fireworks each July that they are able to raise money to support their activities during the year.

Fireworks were sold at 29 stands within the city limits in July, 1985.