EDITORIAL:Stay safe on the Fourth

Huntington Beach is cracking down on illegal fireworks.

And we think it’s a good thing.

Given the city’s history of troubles on the Fourth of July, we don’t want to see another kind of trouble — dangerous fireworks — result in tragedy.

A growing number of complaints about fireworks has prompted city officials to urge the police and fire departments to act more aggressively than ever to enforce the city’s law banning all fireworks.

Also, violators of the law will pay roughly double the amount in fines they have paid in past years.

Rowdiness around the Fourth of July has decreased, said Huntington Beach police Lt. Craig Junginger.

“We’ve actually seen a decrease of party noise complaints we’re responding to,” he told the Independent. “Some of that might be because the recent holidays have been on weeknights. But the big party calls in the past aren’t there anymore.”

That’s a good thing. But not good enough.

Last year, the Independent reported that police responded to about 80 calls relating to arson or fireworks on the Fourth of July, issuing 27 citations. There was one significant hand injury related to fireworks, police said at the time.

That’s trouble brewing.

We hope the crackdown on fireworks brings those numbers down.

We can’t do anything about neighboring Westminster and Costa Mesa, which allow certain kinds of fireworks.

But we can control what goes on in our own back yard.

Now it’s up to police, firefighters and, last but not least, residents to make it happen.