$1,000 Fine for Illegal Fireworks in Pacifica

BY LIONEL EMDE
Riptide Correspondent

Pacifica City Council recently passed a revised set of ordinances governing sale and use of legal fireworks (commonly known as "Safe & Sane") and stiffening penalties for illegal fireworks. The new fine for using illegal fireworks is "a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 and/or 6 months in jail."

The newly revised laws are the work of the Fireworks Task Force assisted by city staff. (Full disclosure: This writer is a member of the task force.) Pacifica citizens and fireworks industry representatives participated in a series of meetings, with Pacifica Police Chief Jim Saunders acting as chair/facilitator/city liaison.

Pacifica police, firefighters, and additional law enforcement will be out on the streets in record numbers for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, enforcing the new law. The task force, appointed by City Council to deal with increasingly out-of-control "celebrations" of July 4th, represents a last-ditch effort to prevent loss of life and property damage caused by the dangerous combination of pyrotechnics and alcohol.

The extent of the problem was detailed in a report written by Pacifica Police about enforcement during the July 4, 2007 holiday: "...we have seen normal law-abiding citizens use alcohol, handle dangerous explosives and then turn on the police officers when they try to intervene. In fact, supervisors have ordered officers out of a particular area because we could not safely enter and deal with the violator(s). ...All in all we were overwhelmed with the calls for service, the number of 'hot spots' and the lack of cooperation by the citizens. This was one of the worst years I have experienced in Pacifica in the 26 years I have been on the police department."   

Nonprofit community groups make money selling legal fireworks every year, and their voice on the task force was ably represented by Terra Nova football coach Bill Gray. Gray revealed that over time his group has been able to reduce fireworks income to 25 percent of total fundraising revenues, but that he and others have not been able to come up with a substitute for the present amount generated by fireworks sales.

Phone in tips about illegal fireworks to Pacifica Police non-emergency numbers 650-738-7314 or 650-738-7312. During the July 4th holiday weekend, the city Web site might be a faster way to notify police. Click CITY OF PACIFICA  and look under the "Department" heading. Click "Police" in the left column under "Contact Information," then click "Online Tip Form."   

Comments

[Chris Romero]

I think it is absolutely wonderful that Pacifica allows its residents to enjoy a traditional Independence Day activity, one that provides a lifetime of happy and vibrant memories for every generation that experiences the joy and the spectacle of fireworks.

Similar to gifts at Christmas, fireworks are not the reason for our celebrations on the Fourth of July. There also can be no doubt that fireworks help to establish long-term reminders about our country's origin and values.

Along with their colorful displays, I have also listened to reminders and history passed along in stories and facts of all forms while friends and families were enjoying the driveway displays. These stories are passed on from parent to child. From friend to friend. And yes, even from a current citizen to a person who has just emigrated to the USA and is learning about our fine history and culture.

I strongly encourage anyone who is using any kind of fireworks to use them responsibly and carefully. Doing so will allow us all to continue to pass on this treasured privilege to generations and new friends yet to come.

[Lionel Emde]

With the exception that Mayburrito notes, everyone I have asked said that it was quieter this year. The runup was almost non-existent here in Edgemar and the fourth didn't get noisy until about 9:30 P.M.
San Pedro Valley seems to have a concentration of people who love explosives. Probably beer and explosives. It will be interesting to hear Chief Saunders report to the council as to what went on with enforcement this year, how many arrests, fines , etc.
Can't be too many for my taste.

[PACIFICA BEACH COALITION]

Pacifica Beach Coalition Beach Cleanups after 4th of July Holiday

The Pacifica Beach Coalition wants to remind everyone that the debris from fireworks is dangerous for birds, wildlife and marine life causing death or injury due to poisoning, blockages or entanglement. If you see firework debris, please pick it up and dispose of all remnants properly. In these next few weeks, please be a beach and street steward and make a point to help remove firework leftovers and litter wherever you can. And, if possible please join the growing number of people who pick up litter during every walk they take. Be a part of the solution, be a street steward and save wildlife.
Please join the Pacifica Beach Coalition at any of the following Beach Cleanups

Your help in cleaning the beaches after the holiday can catch the debris before it gets carried into the ocean and on to the Pacific Garbage Patch. Bags and gloves will be provided but if you can bring a bucket and gardening gloves you can help to reduce the amount of plastic sent to the landfill.

Saturday, July 11th 10.00 am - 12.00 noon Sharp Park Beach (meet by the levee @ Clarendon) and Rockaway (meet by Nicks)

Saturday, July 18th 9.00 - 11.00 am Linda Mar State Beach (meet at the south end of the main parking lot, just north of Taco Bell)

[Dan Underhill]

"The "residents" of the water aka sea lions, seals, dolphins, etc. do not need or want any more of our human-generated trash or loud noises in their neighborhood."

I agree. These people should quietly burn their money directly without first converting it to fireworks.

[Karen Rosenstein]

I am grateful that it seemed quieter than in previous years here in Rockaway. And, more important, that once again the hillsides didn't catch fire.

John, I respectfully disagree with you regarding fireworks over water, though. The "residents" of the water aka sea lions, seals, dolphins, etc. do not need or want any more of our human-generated trash or loud noises in their neighborhood.

[John Maybury]

not in Linda Mar, sorry to say...i think they are using half-sticks of dynamite now...i like fireworks over water, not over land and in my neighborhood...what good are the laws if they are not heavily enforced...people are obviously scoffing at the laws and getting away with it, which just emboldens others to break the law...i pity the police...they are so undermanned on this holiday that it's a joke...no way do they have enough manpower to keep up with all the huge explosions ringing across this valley...clearly, the anarchy is spreading...and every year it gets worse, while we and the birds suffer just to indulge the idiots' delight in blowing up stuff...as i said, i enjoy the sights and sounds of big fireworks out on the bay and over the ocean, but not in my backyard...why can't the cherry bomb boys go off somewhere by themselves and blow each other up...i warmly invite them to go do so...oh, and by the way, the Fourth is over now, so please stop with the explosions today

[Bruce Hotchkiss]

It was about the same around my house although more concentrated. All the big booms were within a half hour of each other. Sounded like a fire fight with shotguns on the next block.

Thankfully the dog is going deaf so she wasn't upset. The cat on the other hand was.

[todd bray]

It has been quieter this year by a lot.

[Steve Sinai]

An old thread rises from the dead.

Compared to previous years, it's been relatively quiet where I live. I get the feeling people have decided that spending money on fireworks isn't a high priority this year.

[Graine Nicbreaca]

I truly hope that the people in my neighborhood (BOV) blow off their fingers as they set off their sticks of dynamite, cannons, or whatever they are doing. Frankly, you'd have to have a cop every other house or so, starting with Rosita and Linda Mar Blvd. and all the little cul-de-sacs in between.

Am I ranting? Hell yes, but I am so sick and tired of every year feeling like I live in the West Bank or Baghdad or whatever just so some sorry piece of s--- can get his rocks off by making big booming noises.

[Lionel Emde]

"So we've upped the fine amount. Big deal. Without additional police on the ground, who exactly is going to enforce the law?"

Bruce, you are correct. There will be a dozen extra law enforcement personnel on patrol, the most in total that the cops have had for the 4th.

"This has become a public safety issue and unfortunately all the good things that come from the sale of legal fireworks ($$$ for youth organizations) are overshadowed by the negative (drunken parties, public safety, police safety, environmental safety)."

Jeffrey, you are also correct, and we don't know if this is going to work. It's a last-ditch attempt at compromise, and it may take a couple of years to see if it will work at all.

Steve, if you have your laptop, you can turn Jeff in from the blind you set up in the weeds across the street.

[Steve Sinai]

Maybe just having all the signs up warning of the $1,000 fines is having an effect. Though we still have a week or two to see how things go, it seems like I'm hearing fewer fireworks going off in the middle of the night than I have in past years.

Perhaps part of that $1,000 fine should be used as a reward/bounty for the people who report violations. If there were a $200 reward, I'd be staking out Jeff Simons' house all night, every night, for two weeks.

[Jeffrey Simons]

I agree with much of what Bruce Hotchkiss is saying (which is rare). This has become a public safety issue and unfortunately all the good things that come from the sale of legal fireworks ($$$ for youth organizations) are overshadowed by the negative (drunken parties, public safety, police safety, environmental safety).

I was present for the City Council meeting when Chief Saunders detailed the block party that got out of hand, and three officers were sent to the scene, and they were quickly overwhelmed and put in harm's way by an unruly crowd. That is unacceptable.

I also find it unacceptable that adults are willing to teach their children damaging lessons by posting them on street corners as "lookouts." We need to report any suspicious loitering (kids standing directly on street corners after dark just watching traffic) to the police before these incidents get out of hand.

[Bruce Hotchkiss]

"supervisors have ordered officers out of a particular area because we could not safely enter and deal with the violator(s). ...All in all we were overwhelmed with the calls for service, the number of 'hot spots' and the lack of cooperation by the citizens."

So we've upped the fine amount. Big deal. Without additional police on the ground, who exactly is going to enforce the law? If the police were overwhelmed last year, without the $1,000 fine, what will happen this year?

It is time that Pacifica grew a set and said no to fireworks completely. It is only a matter of time before there is a huge fire with loss of life. I have sympathy for the charities that raise money through selling fireworks, but enough is enough.

Stop the sale of UnSafe and InSane fireworks.

[Peggy O'Brien]

I am opposed to the lighting of any fireworks this year in Pacifica. It's just too dry. I suggest that people who share this viewpoint contact the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to voice your concerns. Not only am I concerned about fire prevention, but air quality as well. Today I had to shut all of the windows in the house (Linda Mar) and turn on an air filter until the afternoon when an ocean breeze cleared out much of the smoke particulate from surrounding fires.
Perhaps with enough calls to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, we can suspend our fireworks permit for this 4th of July.

[Bruce Hotchkiss]

City Council can pass all the laws it wants, but unless we put a cop on every block, it just won't work. Every Fourth of July the police are stretched too thin policing the beaches and trying to catch drunks on the road. Our police department is understaffed as it is, yet this City Council wants to hand the police more duties?

It is insane in the first place to allow fireworks in tinder-dry California, let alone in one of the worst fire seasons in more than a decade.

It would be so much easier if any and all fireworks were illegal. But that would take guts, something this City Council is sorely lacking.

[Summer Rhodes]

Misuse of fireworks can cause fires, and it should never occur. California—and the entire western United States—is under stress due to increasingly larger, longer fire seasons.

National Geographic gives us the big picture in the July 2008 story "Under Fire."
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/fire-season/shea-text

[Lionel Emde]

Sparklers are no longer legal. They reach temperatures of up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit and are hand-held.

Also, my understanding is that the police department's intent is to fine people, not jail them. They have discretion in situations, it's not a strictly by-the-book situation. People will watch the reports and data that emerge from this year's efforts to see what happens.

[Summer Rhodes]

Which ones are considered safe and sane? Sparklers & Snakes?

I don't use any, because it's further oxidation of carbon, producing carbon dioxide. It only hastens our climate change toward global warming.

www.350.org

[Steve Sinai]

Thanks for your effort (and everyone else involved) in developing the ordinance, Lionel.

[Carl Herder]

I don't think people should be sent to jail for stuff like this. The philosophy of deterrence through harsh penalties is flawed, as evidenced by the "war on drugs." Way too many people get sent to jail in this country. If jail time is an option that is up to the judge, its application is likely to be racist.

[Deb Wong]

Good ordinances. We need something like them along the coast from Half Moon Bay to Princeton. Last year, there were so many unofficial fireworks "exhibits" using cherry bombs and illegal fireworks, that law enforcement basically couldn't/didn't do anything about them. We really had to watch our step while on the way home from watching the legal firewoks display.

[Lionel Emde]

Steve, not to worry, it's $1,000 for each offense.
Chief Saunders reported several people arrested more than once last year. This time, it'll be a very expensive evening for them.

[Steve Sinai]

I had been hearing that the fine for the first offense was definitely $1000, and it would go higher for repeated offenses.

If it was up to me, I'd ban the fireworks booths altogether (I've already started hearing barrages of M-80s at midnight,) but I don't have a problem giving the new ordinance a try. I'm worried to read that the ordinance reads "fine not exceeding $1000." Hopefully, this doesn't mean $10 fines are the norm, since then the ordinance wouldn't have any teeth or effect.