EDITORIAL

The Fourth of July has passed yet again. Some Newport Beach residents

were fortunate enough to see a fireworks display off Cameo Shores that

evening, while many Costa Mesa residents enjoyed the annual tradition of

igniting “safe and sane fireworks” on the city’s streets.

But a side-effect reality of allowing the use of those fireworks are

fires. Fireworks sparked at least five of six fires in Costa Mesa on the

Fourth of July. Two of those ignited brush fires while the other three

set dumpsters ablaze.

The sixth fire, still under investigation, destroyed an apartment

bedroom on Santa Isabel while illegal fireworks, often bottle rockets,

lit up the sky all around the hard-working firefighters at the scene.

A vast majority of Orange County cities have already banned the sale

and use of fireworks year-round. Costa Mesa’s westerly neighbor, Newport

Beach, has had such a ban for decades.

Costa Mesa officials should, not just this year but every year around

this time, enter into a healthy debate about whether they want to

continue allowing residents to use these “safe and sane” fireworks. While

these fireworks can be used in a safe manner, there are a few users out

there who abuse the privilege and launch them into the sky, often

resulting in serious fires that destroy brush and homes.

The city should consider itself extremely fortunate this very dry

year, in which brush fires have already burned hundreds of thousands of

acres in the West. We have received no more rain than locations in

Arizona, Colorado and Northern California. We, too, have to face the

reality that more fires await Southern California this summer.

At the same time, though, the city must decide if it’s worth, excuse

the pun, adding more fuel to the fire, or creating the impetus for any

blazes. After all, we would all hate to explain to someone who loses

their home and priceless belongings that the fire was something that

could have been prevented.

In recent Costa Mesa history, officials have created more and more

laws much like those on the books in Newport Beach. Why not add another

one, or at least consider it?