There’s nothing safe or sane about fireworks in Fresno. City should ban them next year

The air pollution may have subsided from Fourth of July fireworks, but that doesn’t mean action to ban the pyrotechnics from Fresno should be allowed to drift away like so much smoke.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias has raised a call to ban the sale of “safe and sane” fireworks in the city. He plans to hold community meetings to hear from citizens, then bring the idea to his colleagues. The council should take heed and make it happen. It would return Fresno to its stance of yesteryear, when fireworks were disallowed in city limits.

That’s right. From the 1920s to the year 2000, fireworks were banned in the city. That changed when then-mayor Jim Patterson pushed to let legal fireworks be used and the City Council agreed. The Bee reported that key reasons for lifting the ban were patriotism, profits for charity groups selling fireworks and the fact safe-and-sane fireworks were legal in Fresno County and neighboring cities.

Ever since, however, Fresno has had to endure accidental injuries and fires caused by people not being safe enough with their legal fireworks. And the case can be made that having legal pyrotechnics for home use encourages the use of illegal fireworks that produce bigger booms and flashes — as well as more fires and injuries.

Homes burned

This past holiday witnessed a two-alarm fire that burned three homes in central Fresno. The cause was illegal fireworks. A total of 44 citations were issued by city officials from July 1-4. City firefighters responded to 88 blazes.

In Fresno County, 23 fires broke out on the Fourth, and Cal Fire officers confiscated 1,200 pounds of illegal fireworks in the weekend before the holiday — more than a typical year.

Arias said allowing legal fireworks is a major burden for the city. First, the city devotes staff time to issuing permits to nonprofit groups hoping to sell fireworks. Then police and fire respond to mishaps that occur on the Fourth. Pets scared by all the noise go missing and have to be rounded up and returned to owners.

There is also the air pollution caused by firework use. Last year monitors used by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District showed fine-particle pollution that was “off the chart,” according to a spokeswoman. That just gets added to the generally poor air quality that is present in Fresno summers.

Nonprofit groups

Nonprofits like church groups and youth sports teams rely on fireworks sales because of the significant money generated in a short time. The nonprofits represent worthy groups, to be sure. But how moral is it for a church group to sell a product that can start a fire? Or a youth team to sell something that can potentially maim a young person?

Arias’ plan is to let nonprofits set up food and merchandise booths at public fireworks shows sponsored by the city. At night’s end, the total revenue can be split between the participating groups. “This would eliminate street-level fireworks that are toxic to public health and divert a lot of public safety resources,” he said in an interview with The Bee Editorial Board.

Better yet, it would keep fireworks centralized at certain stadiums, with professionals putting on the shows, thus minimizing the dangers. Arias said the council allocated $50,000 in this year’s budget for one or two such shows next July, and he has visions for expanding beyond that.

Limit the dangers

Climate scientists believe California is increasingly becoming more arid. Dry, hot weather means prime conditions for wildfires. The communities of Bass Lake and Shaver Lake ban safe-and-sane fireworks because of wildfire concerns. The Fresno-Clovis urban area is just as dry.

Fresno residents just have to accept reality: Fireworks of any kind are too risky to use today. Arias’ council colleagues should take up his call and restore a ban that was once in place. There are other, safer ways to see the beautiful explosions without two-alarm fires in a neighborhood.