Rockets' Red Glare (Press Enterprise 07122006) It is amazing how many people Violated the Firworks Laws and set them off anyway).

the forth of July uncovered so many fireworks that were illegal and it is so scary, to think if we were to apply that to the terrist trade, how easy would it be for a terrist that wants to do harm to the states in any way, how hard would it be for them to bring their Illegal Fireworks, or Bomb or bomb makings into the country from say Mexico or Canada. I think that it would be easy, Looking at the homes in Rialto it seemed that almost ever forth home had illegal fireworks. Those Fireworks had to come from somewhere and they could and can cause some damaged if used to make something different then fireworks.

BSRanch

Rockets' Red Glare

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 10, 2006

CASSIE MACDUFF

It was amazing how many people decided to celebrate the birth of this great nation by violating its laws.

Scores of backyards and streets in neighborhoods throughout the area became launch pads for illegal fireworks, some of them rivaling the officially sponsored public displays.

Friends and I watched Redlands' traditional fireworks show from a neighbor's front yard about a mile east of the University of Redlands stadium.

Within a one-block radius of where we sat, rocket after rocket was launched, exploding high overhead, from homes to the south, east and north of us.

Meanwhile, a family half a block away set off fireworks in the street -- perilously close to a eucalyptus tree.

Fireworks -- even the "safe and sane" ones -- are illegal in Redlands. And these were clearly not safe and sane.

"If it goes up in the air or it explodes, those aren't legal," said Lt. Mark Garcia of the San Bernardino Police Department.

San Bernardino allows safe and sane fireworks in neighborhoods south of Highway 30. But mortar-fired rockets are illegal throughout the state.

I'm not the only one who noticed an apparent increase in these outlaw displays this year.

Sheriff's Bomb and Arson Squad Sgt. Wendell Anderson said when he and his family were driving home from Redlands that evening, he could see "an awful lot" of illegal displays all over the valley.

And he knows an illegal firework when he sees one. Anderson was on a multi-agency task force intercepting illegal fireworks being brought into California from Nevada in the days leading up to the Fourth.

Capt. Tom Fitzmaurice of the Redlands PD said the east side of his town was especially busy with illegal backyard displays this year, keeping officers running to try to halt them.

These aren't isolated individuals, Fitzmaurice said: Whole neighborhoods turn out, making it an "accepted activity."

Have people forgotten fireworks can lead to tragedy?

An 8-year-old Riverside boy was killed by a hit-run driver on a Santa Ana street where he and his family were setting off fireworks. Safe and sane fireworks are legal in Santa Ana. But children playing amid the smoke and bright flares set the stage for a tragedy.

Two days after the Fourth of July, a fire swept over Blue Mountain in Grand Terrace, forcing the evacuation of homes in Reche Canyon. Witnesses reported two teenage boys playing with fireworks in the area just before the blaze broke out.

Local fire officials found evidence of fireworks near where the fire started. The two boys remained at large Monday.

Meanwhile, the smuggling of illegal fireworks into California has grown, in spite of teamwork between the State Fire Marshal's Office and the fire agencies and sheriff's departments of San Bernardino and Inyo counties to stop it.

Vickie Sakamoto, division chief in the State Fire Marshal's Office, which is charged with disposing of illegal fireworks seized by authorities throughout California, said this year's seizures will exceed last year's.

"Last year, 90 tons were seized," she said. "We're over that already," and a lot of local fire agencies haven't reported in yet.

It's a sad commentary on American values that people would violate a public-safety law so casually.

Cassie MacDuff can be reached at 909-806-3068 or cmacduff@PE.com