Town Bows to Pressure; Bans Sale of Fireworks

The San Fernando City Council, bowing to an ultimatum from the city of Los Angeles, ended a 40-year tradition Tuesday night by banning the sale of Fourth of July fireworks.

The five-member council voted unanimously to renew the city’s contract with the Los Angeles Fire Department, which had said it would not continue to extend service to San Fernando if the fireworks sales continued.

After studying other options, San Fernando officials concluded that the Los Angeles Fire Department provides them with the best available service at the lowest possible cost, Mayor Roy Richardson said.

“To me, the bottom line is my own feeling of responsibility to the people and businesses in San Fernando--what is going to protect them the best and cost the least amount of money,” he said.

To substitute for the fireworks sales, the council voted to explore offering a fireworks show on the Fourth of July. It also voted to increase police patrols on the Fourth to guard against the use of illegal fireworks.

In recommending that council members renew the contract, City Administrator Donald E. Penman said that losing fire protection from Los Angeles would be “a step in the wrong direction.”

Although Los Angeles’ ultimatum “does not set well with many people . . . fireworks sales should not dictate a critical decision affecting public health and safety,” Penman said.

The issue came up last summer when the Los Angeles City Council and the Fire Commission voted to refuse to renew a 10-year-old fire-service contract unless San Fernando stopped permitting the sale of fireworks the week before the Independence Day holiday.

Cost of $1.4 Million

Under its existing contract, which expires June 30, San Fernando pays $1.4 million a year for the protection.

The five council members said they are uncomfortable with the Los Angeles ultimatum.

“I don’t like people from the outside telling us what to do,” Councilman Evelio Franco said. “It’s a shame to lose a tradition, but we do need the best fire protection.”

The council directed city staff to ask the Los Angeles Fire Department to study building a fire station in San Fernando. The nearest stations are in Sylmar and Pacoima.

Since 1948, about 20 community organizations have depended on annual profits from the sale of fireworks, with several groups earning as much as $5,000 each.

But because fireworks are illegal in the surrounding city of Los Angeles, San Fernando’s tradition has long irritated Los Angeles officials. Faced with Los Angeles’ threat, the San Fernando council last summer ordered a study of fire-service alternatives but found that its choices were limited.

City officials determined that it would cost $500,000 a year to operate their own fire department, with initial equipment costs ranging from $1.5 million to $2 million.

And a San Fernando fire department could not provide the same levels of service, equipment and staffing available from the mammoth Los Angeles department, according to a city report. Scaled-down city fire service would result in a 10% to 20% increase in fire insurance rates for businesses, the report said.

City officials also explored contracting with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. But they said county fire service would cost at least $2.2 million annually. And there was no certainty that the county would take on an additional area, they said.

In a public hearing last week, 14 people spoke in favor of fireworks sales, even if it meant losing Los Angeles fire protection. City transcripts of their testimony showed that 12 of them did not live in San Fernando but were leaders of community groups that benefit from the sale of fireworks.

To help them recover funds lost from the ban, the groups will be permitted to set up booths at San Fernando’s annual summer fiesta, Penman said.

The 12 people at the hearing who favored retaining Los Angeles fire protection are San Fernando residents, the records show.