Illegal fireworks activity clustered on 4th of July, weekend quieter
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: July 09, 2008
It seems that for the most part Santa Paulans heeded strong warnings about the illegal possession and setting off of fireworks, at least for most of the 4th of July holiday weekend.
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
It seems that for the most part Santa Paulans heeded strong warnings about the illegal possession and setting off of fireworks, at least for most of the 4th of July holiday weekend. According to Santa Paula Police Chief Steve MacKinnon, the SPPD received 36 fireworks calls over the Fourth of July weekend.
“Over 20 sets of fireworks were confiscated. Those fireworks were destroyed and no enforcement action taken was taken by officers,” who were tied up with a July 4th brawl that left three men injured on North 11th Street.
“Primarily,” noted MacKinnon, “those 36 calls were Friday night,” following the city’s Fourth of July fireworks show. “Officers reported that the balance of the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, was very light... obviously everyone wanted to set the fireworks off on the Fourth.”
Last week the SPPD and the Santa Paula Fire Department launched a joint task force targeting illegal fireworks, which according to city code includes even those marked safe and sane by the state Fire Marshal. Fireworks sales are legal in Fillmore, which has a caveat - often not adhered to - that pyrotechnics purchased are set off in designated areas within city limits.
Fireworks have been a rising concern in drought-plagued California. Even sparklers can cause major fires or bring serious injury to children, most often the victims of fireworks related incidents.
MacKinnon believes that in the coming days fireworks activity will remain light. “We’re pretty confident,” he noted, “that the bulk of the activity was blown off this past weekend.”
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