Sparks Fly Over City Allowing Fireworks

Ventura County Fire Chief James Sewell said Monday that his department is considering a lawsuit against Fillmore to recover about $200,000 spent fighting a recent brush fire ignited by fireworks sold in that city.

“We think that the policymakers in Fillmore have been irresponsible about allowing fireworks,” Sewell said. “And we think they have a legal obligation for picking up some of these costs.”

Two teenagers playing with fireworks were arrested July 6 after accidentally igniting a 400-acre brush fire in Harmon Canyon between Ventura and Santa Paula.

The youths told investigators that they purchased the fireworks in Fillmore, the only local city where the sale of so-called “safe and sane” fireworks and their use on the Fourth of July is legal.

Fillmore Mayor Roger Campbell, a former volunteer firefighter, said he was outraged by Sewell’s legal threat. He said the teenagers who started the fire and their parents should be the ones held responsible, not his city.

“It’s all political posturing,” Campbell said. “He has no legal ground to stand on. All he’s trying to do is grab publicity for his own personal gratification and glory.”

Sewell said he also plans to meet with county attorneys soon to discuss the possibility of suing the parents of the teenagers and possibly the fireworks vendor. He said allowing the sale of fireworks only invites trouble, and that for Fillmore officials to think otherwise is “pretty naive.”

But Campbell pointed out that more than 80 cities across the state allow the sale of fireworks.

“If he wants to effect change, then I personally invite him to move to Fillmore and run for the City Council,” Campbell said. “Otherwise, I say stay the hell out of our public policy.”