3 O.C. Cities OK Fireworks to Celebrate 2000

By MITCHELL LANDSBERG and DANIEL YI

Dec. 22, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Add one more possibility for worry this millennial New Year’s: fireworks accidents.

Across the country, states that ordinarily restrict fireworks sales to the period around July 4 have given in to industry pressure to allow millennium sales. In California, legislation passed in 1998 will allow cities and counties to authorize fireworks sales from 9 a.m. on Dec. 26 until midnight on Jan. 1.

The decision runs counter to a statewide trend toward greater restrictions. Especially in Southern California, fire and safety officials have for years pushed to outlaw fireworks sales, despite fierce opposition from the industry and from charitable groups that rely on the sales for fund-raising.

About 100 cities statewide, including three in Orange County--Stanton, Costa Mesa and Garden Grove--have decided to join the pyrotechnic party, despite concerns by fire officials, who say fire dangers can be even higher in December than in July.

Southern California has received almost no rain this fall and has been blown still drier by recent Santa Ana winds. Adding fuel to potential fires, fire officials said, many people will be discarding dry Christmas trees around New Year’s, many of them left at curbsides. And, because the fireworks sales will coincide with the party of the millennium, it’s likely at least some amateur pyrotechnicians will be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“People tend to misuse them and cause fires. And in the process they get injured as well,” said Paul Hunter, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

Fireworks will not be legal in most Orange County cities, but fire officials are worried about residents buying them in nearby communities and bringing them home.

While the potential for a Y2K fireworks disaster might pale next to such millennium threats as power outages or terrorist attacks, the question arises: Why allow fireworks sales on a holiday not otherwise expected to be safe or sane?

“Don’t the police have enough to worry about for New Year’s Eve?” asked Margaret Varela, an Alhambra florist whose shop adjoins a Freedom Fireworks booth at the corner of Valley Boulevard and Fremont Avenue.

Proponents say legal fireworks rarely cause problems, and might even promote a safer holiday by discouraging more dangerous celebrations.

“We’d rather have them fire up fireworks than guns,” said Stanton Councilman David John Shawver. His city was the first in the state to approve December fireworks sales, taking advantage of the new law sponsored by former state Assemblyman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar).

That argument--better a Piccolo Pete than a Colt .45--was basically how the fireworks industry sold the idea to the state Legislature. Dennis Revell, the lobbyist primarily responsible for pushing the measure into law, added that he encountered no opposition from fire safety officials or police.

Proponents also note that fireworks are an important fund-raising tool for many nonprofit organizations.

“It really helps us during the Fourth of July, and we are hoping it will be a huge success next week,” said Pamela Schoonover, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Stanton. The organization raised $20,000 from fireworks sales during the last Fourth of July sale.

In Alhambra, one of at least 16 cities in Los Angeles County authorizing fireworks sales, All Souls Church and School has a fireworks booth in its parking lot and plans on using the proceeds to send its Catholic youth group to Rome.

Fireworks have not traditionally been associated with New Year’s celebrations in California or in most of the United States, with the exception of parts of the South, according to Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Assn., an industry group. That is expected to change this year.

“We expect it to be a very big event for the fireworks industry,” Heckman said. “Just like the champagne and the people out there banging pots and pans on street corners at midnight, I think you’re going to see a lot of sparklers and trick noisemakers--party poppers.”

Asked about the potentially volatile mix of fireworks and New Year’s-style partying, she said the industry intended to “educate the public that a sober adult needs to supervise all fireworks activities.”

Most big cities in the country will be sponsoring large public fireworks displays, she said. L.A. officials had considered shooting off fireworks over the Hollywood sign, but backed off because of fire fears, said Battalion Chief Daryl Arbuthnott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Fireworks are planned at several spots around Southern California, including Long Beach and Universal City.

Although the idea of selling fireworks for New Year’s is unusual, officials don’t expect sales to begin to compare to typical Fourth of July numbers. Only about half as many cities statewide have authorized New Year’s fireworks sales. And the cities don’t necessarily expect sales to be as brisk.

Garden Grove and Costa Mesa, for example, granted permits to about 70 sale sites compared to more than 100 in a typical Fourth of July period, officials said.

Some California cities that ban Fourth of July fireworks sales have decided to allow them for New Year’s, reasoning that the fire danger is generally lower in December than July, according to Revell. Fresno is the largest of these cities, he said.

But in Southern California, fire officials are warning that the danger may be just as high--or higher.

“We’re drier now than we were on the Fourth of July,” said Joanne Evans, spokeswoman for the Riverside County Fire Department.

“Everyone has to remain extremely fire safe.”

She said that if anyone is found with fireworks outside the three cities allowing the sales in Riverside County--Indio, Coachella and Murrieta--they face fines of up to $1,250. If their activity sparks a fire, they can be held responsible for paying firefighting costs, which can amount to millions of dollars.

Many cities that allow fireworks for the Fourth of July decided against allowing them for New Year’s.

“We’re expecting New Year’s to be busy,” said Fire Capt. Randy Black in Santa Ana, which decided not to allow fireworks sales. “Every year it is busy . . . but with the millennium celebrations we simply think that there will be more revelers, more opportunities for mishaps and . . . to add another safety concern just doesn’t make sense.”

Karen Terrill, a spokeswoman for the state fire marshal, said state fire officials didn’t oppose the legislation authorizing the fireworks sales and will work to educate the public about how to use fireworks safely. “We are telling people, ‘Don’t be Y2-crazy,’ ” she said.

Terrill said legal fireworks are not nearly as serious a problem as illegal ones. The state points to industry figures that show that the number of fireworks-related injuries has been steadily declining in recent years, even as legal fireworks sales have soared.

Pyrotechnics legally sold in California are limited to relatively tame noise makers and flashy concoctions. Flying projectiles such as bottle rockets, for example, are banned. But revelers often don’t make the distinction, fire officials say. Illegal fireworks from Mexico, China and Nevada often get into local hands.

The idea behind the legislation authorizing the New Year’s sale is that this is a onetime--or, at least, once a millennium--thing. The law expires Jan. 2, and there are no plans to allow fireworks sales next year.

Not yet, anyway.

After all, Heckman noted, many people argue, correctly, that this New Year’s is not really the turn of the millennium. The 21st century doesn’t actually begin until Jan. 1, 2001, so who’s to say fireworks shouldn’t be sold next New Year’s?

“We kind of view [this] Dec. 31 as the kickoff for the industry,” she said.

Times staff writers Tom Gorman and Johnathon Briggs contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Millennium Fireworks

About 100 cities in California will permit the sale of “safe and sane” fireworks for New Year’s celebrations. Here are some guidelines and tips:

What’s illegal

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

Safe Celebrating

Light one at a time.

Keep a hose, bucket of water or fire extinguisher handy.

Ignite outdoors in an area free of brush and overhanging tree limbs.

Do not throw fireworks.