Display didn’t light their fire

The air around parts of Los Angeles was filled with smoke from brush fires Saturday.

The air in Glendale was filled with fireworks smoke.

The Americana at Brand shopping center kicked off its holiday season with a pyrotechnic display that sent neighbors running outside in alarm.

“It was really an inappropriate display. This was not the time to shoot off fireworks,” Glendale resident John Barnes said. “The hotels around here were filled Saturday with fire evacuees.”

Americana at Brand spokeswoman Jennifer Gordon said the pyrotechnics were part of a Christmas tree lighting ceremony that couldn’t be rescheduled. “We weren’t trying to be insensitive. My mother is one of those who had to evacuate because of the fires today.”

Barnes was watching TV coverage of the fires when the fireworks went off. He grabbed his video camera and shot the display and the smoke the fireworks produced as evidence.

To him, the holiday event ended with a thud, not a boom.

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bob.pool@latimes.com