Glendale on the Alert to Detect Violators of Fireworks Ban : Fourth of July: Officials in the arson-ravaged community spend the holiday roaming the streets. They don’t want a repeat of last week’s devastating blazes.

For the eleventh year in a row Glendale Fire Capt. John Orr passed up a lazy Fourth of July backyard barbecue to drive his blue Chevrolet around the fringes of a city park, taking time to snuff out the potential beginnings of a disaster.

“You just drive around the park,” he said, rolling to a stop as he peered out an open window, “and listen.”

One week after arson blazes ripped through Southern California, scorching thousands of acres and destroying hundreds of homes, firefighters such as Orr spent Wednesday trying to prevent fires before they began--by tracking down those who ignore fireworks bans.

“All the communities in Southern California are a virtual time bomb,” said Glendale Battalion Chief Joel Markss, adding that three patrols would cruise the city Wednesday evening to catch fireworks scofflaws. “We’re a little more concerned than usual this year. Because of the drought, the brush is much more volatile than at any time since they’ve been keeping records.”

Reports of backyard grass fires and people suffering from heat exhaustion flowed Wednesday into the Verdugo Communications Center, which fields calls for fire departments in Glendale, Pasadena and Burbank.

But only two calls in the last four days reported individuals violating fireworks laws. It was a sign, said some local officials, that the devastating Glendale blaze of last week may have heightened awareness of fire-season dangers.

“Right after the fires, we had people bringing us fireworks,” said battalion aide Greg Godfrey. “They said ‘I was going to use them but now I feel guilty.’ ”

Orr, who is investigating the Glendale arson fire, agreed that a first-hand look at the kind of damage that fireworks could cause was one of the best deterrents for those thinking of illegally setting them off.

“I imagine people are going to police themselves,” said Orr, driving through the city’s streets, all the while keeping alert to the tell-tale pop of fireworks.

In Burbank, Fire Prevention Inspector Terry M. Mencuri used a different method to get the attention of would-be lawbreakers.

“People aren’t aware of fireworks,” said Mencuri, who had set up a mock fireworks booth bedecked in American flags to attract people to what was a sometimes graphic lesson on the danger of fireworks. “They’ve been around for years and people think they’re safe. There is no safe form of fireworks.”

To illustrate his point, Mencuri had decorated the inside of the booth with photographs of fire victims--from a firefighter who fell into a blaze he was battling, to the scarred body of a child who had played with firecrackers.

“I’ve been on the fire department for 11 years,” he said, standing outside the booth that by early afternoon had been visited by nearly 100 people, “and I am still amazed at the destruction that fire can cause.”

Fireworks were blamed for a blaze that damaged the roof of a two-story Hawaiian Gardens apartment building before 20 firefighters put it out, county officials said. No one was injured or displaced.

“A bottle rocket sent off by neighborhood kids set it off,” said Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Michael Wolf. People in the neighborhood told fire officials the youths had launched rockets all day.

In Glendale, residents said they would not hesitate to call authorities if they detected fireworks.

“If I heard anything, I’d report it,” said Walter Theriot, who moved into his hillside home only three months ago. His house barely escaped the blaze last week.

But it wouldn’t really matter, he added ruefully, standing amid the rubble of his neighbors’ homes. After all, he said, “what’s going to burn now?”