Pasadena Cracking Down on Fireworks with New Ordinance Amid Extremely Dry Conditions

As Pasadenans stock up charcoal and hot dogs, police and fire officials are preparing for the city’s first Independence Day under a new ordinance changing the way it deals with fireworks.

“The past three days, the Pasadena Police Department has deployed the firework enforcement details and those details will continue through the fourth of July,” Lt. Jason Clawson said.

“And they’ve actually issued one administrative citation… under the new law,” Clawson said Monday morning.

Under the city’s new ordinance, fireworks violations can now be dealt with by administrative citations, rather than only criminally.

The city can now hold, “property owners and tenants responsible for permitting the possession, sale, usage or discharge of fireworks on their property,” according to a city statement. “The ordinance change allows for the prosecution of fireworks-related offenses and for the demand of payment for all costs associated with the safe disposal of confiscated fireworks.”

Maximum penalties include a year in jail and fines of up to $50,000.

But those busted under the new ordinance won’t end up with criminal records, Pasadena Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Wendell Eaton explains.

“It decriminalizes the act, so people aren’t getting a criminal record for playing with fireworks,” he said. “But we still want to stop it. We want to get their attention, we want to hold them accountable for this illegal activity.”

“If they have a substantial criminal history and what they’re doing is very reckless, that may elevate to a criminal citation, but in most cases, we’re trying to manage these with administrative citations,” Eaton said.

Officials are hoping to get the cooperation of property owners to prevent injuries and damage from fireworks, he said.

“If you’re a property owner, a landlord, there’s a certain responsibility that you have to make sure that your tenants are operating within the law,” the chief said.

At the same time, he added, “Our intent is to be reasonable. And we’re looking for first and foremost the violators and those that are either knowingly participating or should know. Obviously, folks that aren’t at the location are going to have a difficult time knowing that’s occurring, but we are going to communicate with them.”

Clawson said whether enforcing Pasadena’s ban on all types of fireworks criminally or administratively, “We continue to want a zero tolerance to be in place, but we also want people to be smart so nobody gets hurt.”

Officials have also come across other crimes while out looking for fireworks, Clawson said.

While officers were out working a recent firework detail, “At the same time they came across a domestic violence in progress, and the guy had a handgun, the lieutenant said.

Police “calls for service” involving fireworks between Friday and Sunday are up this year over last, from 44 to 57, according to Pasadena police officials. Forty-two of this year’s incidents were handled by the department’s dedicated fireworks detail.

But Lt. Mark Goodman said the increase doesn’t necessarily mean more fireworks are popping off.

“The increase in calls may be attributable to our, ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign, which really encourages people to call the PD,” Goodman said. “The increase may also be attributable to the great public education work of our fire department and the city’s effort to spread the word regarding the dangers associated with fireworks.”

And police launched their fireworks enforcement team earlier than last year.

“Of course, safety is the overarching goal, and we want to encourage people to call the PD regarding the use of fireworks,” he said. “Individuals may choose to remain anonymous when calling.”

Local resident Tim Brick said the booms and crackles seem heavier this year.

“I’ve been hearing fireworks for the last month in my neighborhood, which is right in central Pasadena,” he said. “I think I’ve noticed it more than last year.”

He said he’s on-board with the new law.

“ I think the new ordinance is very important, and it has a lot to do with fire prevention, which we care a lot about,” he said.

Pasadena takes fireworks safety especially seriously, Goodman said.

“We have a lot of historic and old homes that might have wood roofs that could easily catch fire. We have a ton of dry vegetation especially in the Arroyo area that could easily be the source of a fire. And that is just the general public’s safety issue,” he said. “Fireworks are dangerous to handle and people could be exposing themselves unnecessarily to fire risk and risk of injury.”

A 24-year-old man was rushed to a hospital by helicopter Monday morning after he suffered severe injuries to both his hands while using fireworks in La Puente, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Dry conditional have prompted a “very high” fire danger level in the Angeles National Forest, prompting the U.S. Forest Service to shut down Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road between Tuesday and Thursday.

“Obviously, we had pretty good rain last year, but thus far this year, it’s been a little dry and they’re even talking about going back into the drought. So those kinds of fire dangers are very real, and we’ve all seen how quickly fire can spread through dry brush and with these homes in proximity to the Arroy,” Goodman said. “I don’t want to take the thunder away from my counterparts at the fire department, but we can have a small fire turn into a large fire.”