Cities Give Sigh of Relief After Quiet 4th : Safety: It was the least troublesome Independence Day in memory, with just one major blaze occurring in Cerritos.

It has taken intensive advertising, a lot of pleading and some threatening, but area firefighters said it appears that residents have finally gotten the message that fireworks are dangerous.

Southeast firefighters said this year’s Independence Day celebration was the quietest they could recall, even though only Cudahy, Whittier, Long Beach and La Habra Heights bar the sale of fireworks.

The most serious fireworks-related blaze happened in Cerritos, where a home was destroyed while the family was at a professional fireworks show. But roof and apartment house fires in Montebello and Paramount also made them hot spots relative to other area cities, where the most serious fireworks-related calls were in response to grass fires and burning palm trees.

“It was great,” said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Leonard Fontes, whose station covers Bell Gardens and parts of Bell and Cudahy. “We had no home fires, no injuries, no loss. It was unreal. We were expecting the usual onslaught.”

Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Robert Viers, whose station covers Maywood, Bell and parts of Cudahy and Huntington Park, also said this was a quieter year than usual. In the past, he said, it was not unusual to respond to two or three fireworks-caused blazes in buildings.

This year, his station responded to three grass fires, and no damage was reported, Viers said.

“If this is all we had each year, it would be great,” he said.

Viers, Fontes and other fire captains attributed the decrease in accidents, injuries and fires to extensive media coverage, combined with increasingly aggressive fire prevention programs that emphasize penalties for the use of illegal fireworks and that instruct residents on how to use legal fireworks safely.

“I think people are getting educated, finally,” said Capt. Jerry Epperson, whose station covers La Mirada.

Norwalk Fire Capt. Steve Noble said high-profile cruising by firefighters on the lookout for illegal fireworks helped in his area: “People get loony at this time, but the high visibility of firemen out on the streets helped us. This prevented a lot of problems. They knew we were there.”

In Long Beach, firefighters waited with police at the city’s borders of neighboring Lakewood, Paramount and Compton, where the sale of state-approved fireworks is permitted. Residents walking into Long Beach with fireworks were stopped.

“They told them to either walk back across the border or we’d confiscate them,” said Bob Caldon, Long Beach Fire Department spokesman. “We confiscated one guy’s fireworks, and he had just paid $300 for them.”

Sheriff’s deputies, acting on an anonymous tip, confiscated nearly 100 boxes of illegal professional-grade fireworks from a Whittier garage Wednesday and arrested two men on suspicion of selling illegal explosives, selling fireworks without a permit and possession of more than one pound of explosives.

A Cerritos home was destroyed when a bottle rocket landed on its shake roof after the family left to watch the city-sponsored fireworks show at Cerritos College.

County Fire Capt. Pat Sullivan said that the fire at 11343 Abana St. started about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday. Neighbors reported that someone in an adjoining neighborhood was firing bottle rockets, one of which was found on the roof next door to the fire, Sullivan said. He said damage is estimated at $200,000.

Cerritos “should ban fireworks,” said Mina Ramesh Shah, the distraught owner of the burned home.

The Cerritos City Council voted last year to place on the November ballot an advisory measure asking voters whether fireworks should be prohibited.

In Montebello, firefighters battled two apartment fires and a carport fire. They have not determined whether any were caused by fireworks.

Several Montebello families were left homeless Wednesday by a blaze that started on a shake roof at an eight-unit apartment complex at 221 N. Fourth St. The fire began at 10:25 a.m., destroyed the roof and damaged second-floor units, firefighters said.

The Red Cross was asked to find shelter for those the blaze displaced.

Paramount Fire Capt. Leonard Guillen said the Fourth was as busy as usual for his station. His crews responded to one garage fire, two roof fires and a kitchen fire caused by a child who threw a firecracker behind the refrigerator.

In Long Beach, it was a quiet night for firefighters, but police showed up in force along the beaches.

Police cited about 40 people for drinking in public and possession of fireworks, which carries a $1,000 fine and even jail time. Police also arrested four or five people for public drunkenness, according to police Lt. Richard Jones.

Up to 45 officers monitored beaches and parks on foot, in patrol cars, aboard a helicopter and in all-terrain vehicles.

Seventeen of the officers concentrated in the Alamitos Bay Peninsula, where three years ago police reported a near-riot when young people became rowdy and fighting broke out.

Since then, police have closed off the peninsula on the Fourth to drivers who are not residents or friends of residents. On Wednesday, all drivers entering the peninsula had to prove they belonged in the area by either providing identification with a peninsula address or the telephone number of an area resident, who was then asked to vouch for the person.

The blockade angered some people, and Jones conceded that police got some complaints, but many residents told police “they really appreciated us down there, (and said) we were a stabilizing force.”

In Signal Hill, about 2,500 people gathered for clear views of spectacular sky shows from as close as the Queen Mary and Veterans Stadium in Long Beach and as far away as Disneyland in Anaheim, Signal Hill Police Cdr. James Butzbach said.

“It was just a beautiful night,” he said. “Over the years, it’s become an attraction. It’s a family affair out there. People come out with their picnic baskets and just kick back. You have your pick of the shows out there.”

Times staff writers Lee Harris and Roxana Kopetman and photographer Karen Tapia contributed to this story.