The Fourth of July means there will be about a dozen major professional fireworks shows on the Central and South Coasts. It's a busy day for fire departments in the region, because in addition to dealing with fires and emergency medical calls, they are also overseeing safety at the shows.
With the region in high wildfire season, attending one of these shows is the way firefighters are hoping people will enjoy fireworks.
"We're moving into peak fire season, and knowing how dry the brush is, and how the winds are starting to pick up, the use of any sort of fireworks is dangerous," said Ventura County firefighter Pete Diaz. "But professional shows, where we have people and fire inspectors, are much safer to attend."
At the Ventura County Fire Department headquarters in Newbury Park, several wooden racks with plastic tubes stick into the air. The racks launch the kind of fireworks you see in professional shows.
County fire inspectors get a refresher course on safety requirements for the big shows.
"We meet with the pyrotechnic operator at that location, and we ensure all of the equipment is up to code...his mortars, his racks," said Lori Ross, a Ventura County Fire Department Senior Fire Inspector. "We also ensure that the fallout zone isn't compromised. We want to make sure that no one who isn't working with that operator enters the fallout zone."
Ventura County goes above and beyond state requirements for professional fireworks shows. In 2013, there were two major accidents during Fourth of July shows in the county involving faulty shells. In one incident, a blast knocked over a launch rack, shooting fireworks into a crowd in Simi Valley. In the second incident, a professional fireworks team member was seriously injured when a shell exploded prematurely.
"What we found is that the shells that are being imported can't be relied on to function as designed," said Rod Torres, a county Assistant Fire Marshall. "We take measures now to account for that."
Torres says while most places still allow professional fireworks teams to trigger shells by hand, Ventura County felt it was critical to add the safety step of remotely triggering the devices electronically.
The county has also expanded safety zones.
Firefighters say a lot of time and effort go into ensuring the professional shows are safe.
So-called “safe and sane” fireworks are legal in one city in Ventura County, and several cities in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. The concern is that people will get burned or start a fire by setting off home fireworks. Firefighters are hoping people will opt to leave the shows to the professionals.
