Calm prevails during the holiday Laguna public...

Calm prevails during the holiday

Laguna public safety agencies reported that Independence Day

passed without posing significant problems for the city.

“Citywide, we had 15 fire calls, which were not that significant,”

Fire Marshall Mike Macey said.

Not all of the calls were for fires, Macey said. Some were from

people needing medical help. Firefighters did not roll out on any

emergencies resulting from people lighting off private fireworks.

“None of them resulted in any negative impact, whether it be an

injury that we treated or a fire,” Macey said.

All fireworks are illegal in Laguna Beach, and the police

department’s blotter for the Fourth of July showed several reports of

unsanctioned light shows. Police Capt. Paul Workman said the day went

fairly smooth otherwise.

Workman said a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle near South Coast

Highway and Mountain Road at about 9 p.m., though he said the victim

was not seriously hurt. At another point in the day, police reunited

a child with her family.

“We had a little 3-year-old girl that we found up in Heisler, and

it took a while to find her family,” Workman said. “Other than that,

it was pretty quiet.”

On the beaches, light crowds and a placid ocean combined for a

relatively calm day. Lifeguards helped parents find three children

who were reported lost, but all three cases were resolved within

seconds, Marine Safety Lt. Scott Diederich said.

“It was one of the quietest Fourth of Julys I’ve ever seen,”

Diederich said. “I’ve been here 23 years.”

Teen accident still under investigation

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies are still investigating the crash

that killed two Laguna Beach teenagers in May.

Max Sadler, 16, and Mark Tiner, 17, were both students at Laguna

Beach High School. The two were killed after a crash on May 28 when a

Mercedes Benz driven by Max went out of control for unknown reasons

on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point. While Max was driving south,

the car went across the northbound lanes, striking an SUV before

finally crashing into a dirt berm. The driver and 13-year-old

passenger in the SUV were not seriously hurt.

Shortly after the crash, deputies concluded neither drugs nor

alcohol played a role in the accident. Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Fred

Furie said major focuses of the investigation are to find out how

fast the car was going and to determine how much of a factor speed

was in the accident.

The investigation could go on for about two more months, he said.