IN THE MIX:All fireworks pose a danger

Little boys like to blow things up.

If you give them access to explosives on every corner, they will find a use for them.

After 13-year-old Alan bought his Piccolo Pete from the corner stand Wednesday, he wasted little time following the lead of a friend and cutting off the end of the firework to see what would happen.

What happened is it shot across the street like a mini rocket narrowly missing a Costa Mesa motorcycle officer driving past. Such bad timing.

While young Alan was receiving his $100 citation he asked genuinely, “Why do they sell them if they’re illegal?”

The police and fire captain on scene then explained what modifying a safe and sane firework meant and the damage such action could cause.

I initially contemplated writing a column about how fireworks should be illegal in Costa Mesa, just like they are in all but five Orange County cities. After hearing every year about people getting their hands blown off, eyes damaged and occasionally killed by fireworks you have to wonder why they’d be legal anywhere.

But I love fireworks. What’s not to like about bright shiny things exploding in the sky? Me and a whole bunch of other people love playing with fireworks — all kinds of fireworks.

So instead of just calling for a ban, along with about half the city, I figured I’d find out for myself what the city does every year to deal with the dangers.

I spent this Fourth of July roaming the streets with Costa Mesa senior reserve police officer Dan Guth and fire arson investigator Capt. Kevin Diamond. Guth has gone out the past 14 years on the holiday and Diamond has gone out four times as part of a dual effort by the Fire Department and police. The Fireworks Enforcement Program began in 2004 in an effort to monitor the effects of having legal fireworks in the city.

The city allows “safe and sane” fireworks. These are fireworks that do not fly or explode such as fountains, sparklers, wheels and ground spinners (flowers). And it is illegal to modify these safe fireworks.

Throughout the evening it was a little heartbreaking to see kid after kid stopped and lectured for illegal firework use. They were terrified by the experience and usually unaware that modifying a firework was dangerous much less illegal.

But at least these kids didn’t lie. For the most part, when Guth asked for all the illegal fireworks the kids just handed over whatever they had.

I can’t believe how many adults who were caught red-handed said, “That was my last one officer, I swear.”

Guth would then go into mean cop mode and say, “That’s what everybody says. Don’t lie to me. Give me all the illegal fireworks.”

Then out would come the grocery bag full of fireworks that Diamond would go through to pick out all the illegal ones.

The other lie: “I had no idea it was illegal.”

Most of them said that. One family near Federal Avenue and 20th Street — which was a complete war zone Wednesday — had two children caught shooting off bottle rockets. The parents were handing over all the fireworks that the “neighbor had left them” and acting quite contrite as they tried to get their kids out of trouble.

At one point, Guth and Diamond had walked away and I asked the dad if he knew the fireworks were illegal.

“Yeah,” he said. Then he walked over to the officers and continued to tell them he had no idea they were illegal.

We couldn’t turn a corner Wednesday without seeing fireworks, much of them illegal. Everywhere we looked in the sky were exploding mortars. Guth would be writing one illegal fireworker a citation or a warning and they would get irritated and say, “What about those guys?” and point to another mortar going off. Because we all know that if someone else is breaking the law, it’s OK for you to.

Guth and Diamond went from house to house collecting illegal fireworks, lecturing children and adults and occasionally issuing citations.

The citations came with either a $100 or $500 fine and if you were caught with enough of the mortars it could be considered a felony.

There was no way the extra officers on duty could respond to all the calls received that night or catch all the illegal fireworkers — and Wednesday was tame compared to what it’s like when the Fourth of July falls on a weekend. I do feel quite a bit better though knowing they’re out there. Their efforts coupled with the stepped-up fireworks education efforts conducted before the holiday has to make things a little safer on the holiday.

The legal status of fireworks has been a controversial issue for quite a while with strong opinions on both sides. On one side people feel it’s unpatriotic to disallow fireworks, not to mention it puts a pretty heavy damper on the holiday. There’s also a popular argument about the benefits of the fireworks stands. They make a significant amount of money for local organizations.

On the other side you have people who every year live in fear on the Fourth of July as they hear bombs exploding over head.

Each year, the Police Department sends out extra squads manned with officers and fire inspectors. It’s a great cost to the city to pay for the extra officers and the clean up crews.

The fact that the stands make a lot of money for area groups isn’t a good enough reason for them to be legal. They could probably make a lot of money selling beer and cigarettes but we wouldn’t allow that.

Sgt. Rich Allum, who coordinates the fireworks detail, suggested that instead of selling fireworks, the city consider using one of its venues like the fairgrounds, the amphitheater or Orange Coast College to host events, sell the tickets for about $15 and split the proceeds between the city, to pay the costs, and local organizations. Just an idea.

In the end I doubt Costa Mesa has many more years of the legal personal displays. With all the other steps the government takes to try to protect us from ourselves -- helmets, seatbelts — I can’t imagine that selling explosives will last much longer.

On Wednesday, I looked into the face of an 11-year-old boy who was near tears, patting his chest like he was sure his heart was about to explode because he had just been caught by the police. This boy looked like a good boy, a young boy, one with a healthy fear of and respect for authority. But this boy had just helped make a bomb.

He and his older cousin had made a bomb out of a Coke bottle and a Piccolo Pete. A similar bomb had an area of Costa Mesa evacuated later that evening.

This was a good kid, but you put explosives in his house and internet access and guess what, this boy’s gonna try to blow things up.