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Fired Up About Shutting Down Nuisance Fireworks? Here’s What You Should Know…

Published on Sunday, July 3, 2016 | 4:23 am
 
Pasadena police hand confiscated fireworks to a Pasadena Fire Department arson investigator in this file photo.

Mention fireworks in Pasadena this weekend, and you’re likely to get an explosive response.

Police and firefighters will be quick to warn you that fireworks are illegal and you potentially face fines and even felony jail time if you’re caught using them.

Exasperated residents will criticize authorities’ efforts to catch the fireworks users, whose M-80’s sound heart-stoppingly similar enough to gunfire to bring instant fear.

And then there’s the explosive, tinder-dryness of the city’s bushes and trees themselves after the recent heatwave and years-long drought.

In spite of the war the city has waged to ban them, Pasadena is captive to a rising crescendo of fireworks explosions this weekend as the Fourth of July draws near, and some residents are fuming.

“We’re just north of the freeway and every year . . . it sounds like Baghdad, no kidding,” one Pasadena Now reader wrote. “A Navy Seal neighbor who served in Afghanistan commented that it wasn’t doing his PTSD any good and hid in their bedroom.”

Another, referring to Pasadena Fire Chief Bertral Washington after the Chief spoke about the city’s zero tolerance policy, said “Too bad he’s not around the neighborhood when the fireworks are going off for hours at a time every night.”

Pasadena Now rode on patrol with Pasadena police last week to experience how pervasive the fireworks explosions are throughout various areas of the city and how difficult it is to police them.

A joint Pasadena Fire Department and Police task force prepares to roll out on patrols from Fire Station 33 in this archival photograph.

Although most residents don’t want fireworks in their neighborhoods and officials don’t want fireworks anywhere inside of city limits, three hours on patrol reveal how difficult this problem is to combat.

As Sergeant Michael Bugh drove the police SUV away from headquarters on Garfield Avenue shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday night, he summarized what would soon become very clear: catching people in the act of setting off fireworks or who obviously just have done so, is no easy feat.

The call-ins to the police and fire departments from citizens reporting fireworks are often extremely vague, which wastes precious time for responding police to pinpoint the precise location to monitor, and citizens rarely provide descriptions of the culprits to look for.

The first fireworks call assigned to Bugh that night was typical: “Fireworks, heard only; Lake at Mountain.” That was the entire call for service. No caller name. No follow up phone number.

As Bugh drove closer to the area in the gathering dusk, a bit more information: the explosions possibly came from the rear of a house in the 700 block of Merrett Drive.

But a slow trip around the block encountered no signs of anyone or anything suspicious. The area was quiet, except for traffic and a few middle-aged pedestrians. Most of the homes were dark.

Bugh parked the SUV, rolled down its front driver and passenger windows and cut the engine to listen. Nothing. As he turned down the volume of monotoned police dispatchers’ broadcasts, Bugh explained that on a busy night he would not have the time to just sit and stakeout an area.

After ten minutes of silence, Bugh drove off westward, back on patrol. In four minutes, the “boom” of a bottle rocket sounded off to the west. Bugh headed towards the sound. As he meandered through the neighborhood looking for evidence and the possible culprits, the Pasadena police helicopter called in a sighting.

Bugh explained that the fireworks can be clearly visible from the copter. Many fireworks shoot up to 100 feet into the air, he said. This incident was pinpointed at El Sereno Avenue at Washington Boulevard, an area Bugh had rolled through about 30 minutes earlier.

Again, a drive through search of streets in the area turned up nothing. Nine minutes into that search, a large boom punctuated the hum of traffic. The cycle was being repeated.

 

Radio traffic was steadily increasing as darkness fell. When Bugh heard a “man down” call blocks away, he drove to the intersection to locate the victim. In the distance, the siren of an approaching Fire Department rescue ambulance rose louder. Another fireworks call crackled over the radio. But for now, the man down call took priority.

Bugh kept searching, finally locating the man face down in the dark on the asphalt of Carter Alley, still clutching a bottle. When other officers arrived, Bugh headed out again. Another officer had handled the fireworks call.

On average, Bugh either heard, saw or received a radio report of one fireworks incident every fifteen minutes. The Fourth of July was still three days off.

It seems clear that one way residents can help police control the fireworks situation is to provide clear and detailed information about each incident.

“If you have an address, if you have a person — what they look like, a description, if you have a name,” Fire Chief Washington says. “As many details as you can give us.”

Residents may also use the City’s smart phone app, available at www.cityofpasadena.net/citizen-service-center to report illegal fireworks.

As of Thursday night, police said 94 incidents of illegal fireworks had been reported in June. This number is likely but a fraction of the number of fireworks actually set off in Pasadena during the month.

Officials said that due to incident load at the time the Department receives a fireworks report, it may take some time for officers to respond.

Bugh said that every report is investigated.

Back on the streets, Bugh encountered the scene of a car versus bicycle accident in the intersection of North Fair Oaks Avenue at Orange Grove. Two cars idled at the curb, and a mangled bicycle lay flung across the sidewalk. The rider was down but conscious.

Bugh flipped on the SUV’s lights and updated the dispatchers. He went to the rider first, to check his injuries. As he did, the sharp crack of a cherry bomb reverberated throughout the intersection, close by. Then a second explosion. Then a third.

Standing over the injured bicyclist lying in plantings next to the sidewalk, Bugh looked up, ruefully, and shook his head.

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