Fireworks Cause Apartment Blaze

Anaheim police are investigating an apartment fire that witnesses say five juveniles started while throwing fireworks Thursday night.

Although no one was injured in the 10:50 p.m. blaze at 2627 W. Broadway, a one-bedroom apartment unit was destroyed, causing about $45,000 in damage, said Robyn Butler, an Anaheim Fire Department spokeswoman. More than three dozen firefighters extinguished the fire in about 17 minutes, she said.

Officials detained and have since released three juveniles at the scene who were watching the firefighting efforts, Butler said. Witnesses identified them as three of five teens who launched fireworks onto the wood shingle roofs at the Casa del Prado apartment complex.

Officials suspect that the teens also used illegal fireworks, such as bottle rockets, that they purchased from a vendor who sold them out of a car trunk.

Fireworks have been banned in Anaheim since 1982, Butler said. She cautioned individuals who plan to use fireworks over the Independence Day weekend that they face severe penalties if they use illegal fireworks.

Violators can face charges of arson, which can carry a six-year prison sentence, Butler said. In Anaheim and other cities where fireworks are illegal, those who possess the fireworks can be cited for a misdemeanor, she said.