Children spark blaze with fireworks

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Five children who started their Fourth of July

celebrations early with illegal fireworks unintentionally ignited a fire

that charred 10 acres of an open field here Wednesday, authorities said.

“This was an accident,” said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Mike McDermott.

“The kids tried to stomp it out. They were pretty scared.”

In this case, however, the cause of the blaze was much more than a simple

sparkler. Three of the children, who were between the ages of 9 and 11,

got their hands on an M-80 -- approximately a quarter-stick of dynamite.

One of the children, an 11-year-old boy, got the large firecracker from

his 16-year-old brother, who had reportedly bought it in Mexico with a

friend, police said.

“It’s illegal in Newport Beach and in the state of California,” Donna

Boston, of Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department, said of the M-80.

At 12:25 p.m., the fire department was called to the open field at 1499

Monrovia Ave. -- an industrial area of West Newport just north of Hoag

Hospital.

It took 20 firefighters about 40 minutes to extinguish the fire. A

bulldozer which happened to be on the site at the time was instrumental

in cutting a fire line, preventing the blaze from consuming more

property.

Although no one was injured, the three younger children who started the

fire were taken into custody on suspicion of arson-related charges,

police said. Two 16-year-olds were also taken into custody for possession

of destructive devices.

A mother who police say had fireworks at her Newport Beach home is

suspected of trying to hide the illegal items, authorities said.

“She told one of the kids to take the fireworks to another house and hide

them,” McDermott said. “This may make her an accessory.”

The information will be sent to the District Attorney’s Office, which

will decide whether to pursue charges or not, McDermott said. The mother

may also be liable for as much as $10,000 in expenses for the

firefighters, as well as claims of smoke damage by some of the

surrounding building owners who were evacuated during the blaze.

Still, given the type of fireworks, the damage could have been more

severe, McDermott said.

“It’ll blow your hand off,” he said. “If you put it in a mailbox, it’ll

shred the metal.

Boston agreed.

“It’s a timely reminder,” Boston said, adding that instances of children

playing with fireworks are more common than they should be. “It’s

dangerous and obviously causes a lot of problems.”