Seemingly Eternal Quest for Fire(works)

By CARLA HALL and H.G. REZA

July 2, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

They are vilified, criminalized and demonized. They can severely maim and can ignite brush fires.

As Independence Day approaches, the annual chorus of public pleas not to use fireworks resounds across the landscape.

There’s only one other sound that can drown out the clarion call for pyrotechnic abstention--and that would be the howling screech of a Piccolo Pete ($2.99 for a box of six) burning to the ground, an audacious cry of mischief heard throughout the holiday week.

Experts say that the attraction to fireworks is primal. Long before companies put fireworks in packages, Native Americans entertained Lewis and Clark by setting fire to fir trees, sending them up like Roman candles.

“There’s a long-standing tradition of fire as entertainment,” said Stephen Pyne, an Arizona State University history professor and expert on the history of fire.

“It’s only as we’ve moved into large cities that we’ve eliminated this,” he said. “Now you can barely have candles. This is not a weird thing. The interesting thing is how this is being constrained and redefined, and the ability to do fire is being taken away from individuals.”

Virtually every affluent enclave of Orange and Los Angeles counties has done away with fireworks. (They’ve been illegal in the city of Los Angeles since 1942.)

But in blue-collar communities from Maywood to Santa Ana, fireworks remain a Fourth of July custom despite the urgent warnings from doctors, politicians, children’s advocates and firefighters.

Only five cities in Orange County--Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Stanton--permit the sale and use of fireworks. In Los Angeles County, fireworks are legal in 37 cities.

In places where fireworks still may be sold, however, they have become an important source of revenue for nonprofit groups ranging from churches to homeless shelters, said Dennis Revelle, a spokesman for American Promotional Events Inc., which distributes fireworks in California.

Revelle said that “99.9% of fireworks sales in California are by nonprofit, charitable or fraternal groups,” and there are about 3,500 such groups across the state that have permits to operate fireworks stands this Fourth of July holiday. Of those, 237 stands are in the five Orange County cities.

Many of those organizations operating those stands say they rely on fireworks rather than philanthropists to fund their good works. For example, barely a week of July sales provides the largest single source of money for the Newhope Church’s Sunday School program in Santa Ana. The church has operated a fireworks stand at Harbor and MacArthur boulevards for the past seven years.

“It’s important to us because the $3,000 or $5,000 we make is used to finance our Sunday School,” said Futi Semanu, a church deacon. “It’s for the kids. It would be very tough for us if we couldn’t count on this income every year.”

At Westminster Avenue and Euclid Street in Garden Grove, the Shelter for the Homeless is running a fireworks stand this summer for the first time. Judy Kampmann, director of operations for the group, said members hope to raise between $4,000 and $6,000.

“Groups like ours are finding it very hard to obtain funding for the services we offer. We have to try something like this to raise the money we need,” Kampmann said. “The money we raise here will be used for job training programs, especially for homeless women with children. We have 15 families in Garden Grove whom we’re trying to help by giving job training to a parent or parents.”

The California fire marshal establishes safety standards for fireworks sold legally in the state, spokeswoman Karen Terrill said. Only those labeled “safe and sane” may be sold, she said.

But local fire authorities may establish regulations that exceed state standards, Terrill said. In many areas, the sale and use of fireworks, even legal pyrotechnics, is illegal.

The stands and fireworks are provided by the fireworks companies. Vendors do not have to pay for use of the stands but pay the companies for the cost of the pyrotechnics. Vendors are allowed to keep the profit and can return any leftover fireworks without cost.

With the evenings warm and the sun setting late, the colorful fireworks stands, festooned in glowing lights, invite a twilight promenade.

Fathers shepherding sons, parents pushing strollers, a young couple sauntering by--all pause to consider the fireworks displayed at a Lynwood stand on a recent night.

Claudia Chavez, 21, arm in arm with her boyfriend, Eligio De Santiago, 21, tried to explain their attraction to fireworks. “Well, it’s fire,” said De Santiago, laughing.

At a Costa Mesa stand Wednesday, wide-eyed Timothy Rebelo looked through the wire mesh at the wide assortment of brightly colored fireworks boxes on the other side, undecided about which one he wanted. The 10-year-old pulled his mother by the hand from one end to the other at the booth, sponsored by the Costa Mesa High School Band Boosters.

When he finally decided on a $42 “Jubilee” assortment, his mother, Dolly Rebelo, let out a sigh of relief. She had been angling him to pick a less expensive $25 “Freedom Family” box, but she was grateful at having talked him out of the $100 “Spirit of 76” assortment.

“The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, but I still have guilt feelings about burning away $42, all in a few minutes’ time,” she said.

To be sure, legal fireworks are pretty tame now. Mostly they just shriek and smoke. You can’t actually buy a firecracker legally anymore, much less M-80s, cherry bombs or bottle rockets. Even sparklers are banned.

“Generally speaking, if it explodes, flies through the air or scurries on the ground, it’s illegal,” said Terrill of the state fire marshal’s office.

California allows only so-called safe and sane fireworks. But as burn specialist Dr. Peter Grossman said: “Any time you’re putting a match to something and maintaining that heat, it’s hot enough to burn skin.”

And many of these legal fireworks can be modified to make more dangerous displays. It’s not uncommon to see a Piccolo Pete hammered into a modified rocket.

Nonetheless, Grossman, who with his father, Dr. A. Richard Grossman, operates the Grossman Burn Center at the Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, said the worst accidents come from illegal fireworks.

Otherwise, he said, “we have seen very, very few fireworks injuries, and we used to see quite a bit more. Take that for what it’s worth. Maybe the restrictions imposed on people have limited the amount of injuries we see. . . . Perhaps there has been some improvement in the quality of fireworks. But I wouldn’t ever say any firework is completely safe.”

Statistics released by the state fire marshal’s office show that legal and illegal fireworks caused almost an equal number of injuries in California from June 17 to July 16, 1997.

Statewide, hospitals reported 82 injuries caused by legal fireworks and 99 by illegal fireworks during that period, according to the fire marshal’s figures. In Orange County, eight people were injured by legal fireworks and eight by illegal pyrotechnics. In Los Angeles County, 29 people were reported injured by legal fireworks and 30 by illegal ones.

Anti-fireworks activists say that they are not trying to dampen anyone’s fun.

“We teach our kids safe sex; we teach our kids to stay away from harmful people. This goes along with that,” said Jayne Murphy Shapiro, president of the Granada Hills-based KIDS SAFE, a child advocacy group. “We’re really trying to get the point across that if something at 1,200 degrees can burn you, why play around with it? Why not leave it to the person with the license who can show you a beautiful display? Isn’t that enough?”

Vendors preach adult supervision, as well as having customers keep water buckets and garden hoses nearby.

Kate Holbrook and her son, Kevin, purchased almost $90 in fireworks from a stand in Santa Ana.

The Aliso Viejo resident said her family planned to set off fireworks on Saturday, even though pyrotechnics are banned in their community.

“Everyone does it. I don’t see anything wrong, as long as parents light the fireworks or supervise their children. Fireworks and the Fourth of July are a tradition,” Holbrook said.

Some city officials argue that fireworks are wholesome fun.

“It’s just something that’s been done for years,” said Julio Fuentes, city manager of Alhambra, where fireworks are legal. “The individuals who elect to buy them use them in a safe manner. And if it helps the nation celebrate its birthday, that’s terrific. If it helps nonprofit organizations, that’s terrific.”

Alhambra Fire Chief Jim Ballard said that ever since the city outlawed sparklers, “we really haven’t had any injuries in town. People get hurt because of those dang bottle rockets and firecrackers.” Those are illegal and subject to confiscation by police.

The fireworks stands, which opened in Los Angeles County at the beginning of this week and will close Saturday night, are inspected by fire marshals and plastered with warning signs in English and Spanish: No One Under the Age of 16 Will Be Served.

Cindy Rosales, who has worked in a booth in Lynwood for six years, studied a family considering their fireworks purchase. “That’s how it should be--the parents coming out and supervising their kids,” said Rosales.

“Half the stuff in here can’t cause you harm if it’s used the right way. Someone is always going to use it wrong,” Rosales said. “But you can’t punish everyone. If you start outlawing everything, no one will be able to have fun.”

Times staff writer Darrell Satzman contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Legal Display

Five Orange County cities allow the sale and use of fireworks. Because cities have different policies, fireworks must be purchased from and used in the same city, on private property only.

Legal Use of Fireworks

City: Limitations

Buena Park: Through July 4

Costa Mesa: July 4, 4 p.m.-10 p.m. only

Garden Grove: Through July 4

Santa Ana: Through July 4

Stanton: Through July 4

What’s Illegal

Virtually any fireworks that explode, launch into the air or scurry along the ground are illegal. Stationary ground fireworks are legal.

Pet Safety

* Keep fireworks and noisemakers away from your pets.

* Do not take your pet to a fireworks display or leave it in a car during the show.