Tuesday, June 30, 2015

4th Of July Fireworks Started In Early May

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 4, 2014.  Fireworks over the 5 Freeway, shot from Corralitas Drive.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

We've said it before.  There's nothing scarier than drunken idiots shooting off fireworks in the hills.  The 4th year of record drought has neighbors more nervous than usual about July 4th.  We've been hearing fireworks in Elysian Valley since early May.  I've been getting an increasing number of emails about it every week.  

One  Corralitas Drive neighbor suspected neighbors of shooting fireworks off on Sunday night.  Another neighbor was concerned enough to walk around the hill to find the source, which appears to have been Elysian Valley, near the river.  

My advice for pinpointing the source when you think fireworks are nearby: GO OUTSIDE. Walk around.  Listen.  If you hear a "whoosh" as the rocket zooms up into the sky before it  explodes, it's close.  If you can identify the source/address of where the fireworks are being set off, call 911.  Tell them it's a hillside neighborhood with lots of dry brush and you are concerned about fire. 

Or if you know the neighbor, respectfully ask them to stop.  Make them aware that fireworks are illegal and that they are putting the entire neighborhood at risk for fire.

If you haven't already, clear brush, trim dry tree branches, dispose of piles of dry vegetation and flammable debris, take down umbrellas and other shade fabrics before it gets dark on the 4th.

Every year we see fireworks coming from the hills in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract and 18 Acre Elysian Park Parcel.  This is in addition to what we can see across the river in hills of  Glassell Park, Mt Washington, Lincoln Heights and Baldwin Hills.  Of course, the main illegal show is along the entire footprint and both sides of the LA River.  

ALL FIREWORKS ARE ILLEGAL IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, unless a part of a licensed professional fireworks show.  See a list of fireworks shows put out by LA City & County Fire Depts: www.SafeJuly4th.org