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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Now we’ve survived another 4th of July and the M-80s are fewer and further between, let’s take a moment to honor a Councilmember who threw herself into the efforts to slay the fireworks dragon.
Monica Rodríguez represents Council District 7 in the northeast San Fernando Valley, a high fire hazard zone where an errant spark or fizzling firecracker could easily ignite a massive wildfire leading to evacuations, property damage, emotional duress to people and their pets, injuries and loss of life.
Not to mention the cost of fighting such a blaze, and its huge impact on air quality, water use, and environmental destruction.
In the wake of the 2021 explosion in a South Los Angeles neighborhood that injured 17 people and damaged or destroyed 13 businesses, 22 residential properties and 37 vehicles, Rodriguez picked up the flag abandoned long ago by the LAPD who had neither the manpower or, clearly, the political will to proactively shut down the fireworks fiestas that erupt every year.
Not only is the private purchase and use of all kinds of fireworks illegal in SoCal due to the risk of injuries and fires, many of the chemicals they contain are toxic, and their other expended materials end up littering our homes and streets, our pools and parks.
Fireworks often traumatize animals, seniors and veterans and others who suffer from PTSD.
It used to be that the period from a week or so prior to Memorial Day to a few weeks past the 4th of July was the time movie studios released their big budget special effects films, attracting the highest attendance of the year from sea to shining sea.
But in Los Angeles, it could also be referred to as Fireworks Season.
Every year, despite many local and state ordinances to the contrary, pyrotechnics of various brilliance and loudness ravage our nights. Rarely are the existing regulations enforced unless the police actually witness damage or injury. By the time they show up, the perpetrators have decamped. Or feign innocence.
Every year, there are spectacular public fireworks displays. But constant illegal abuse around our homes and schools outperform and outlast these, to the delight of a few and distress of many.
Improvised local displays tailed off with the pandemic, both because of Covid and because of cost. But the last couple of years they’ve come back bigger and better than ever.
But as we look at these endless exhibits of light and noise, we should also remember there are places in the world today – Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and more – where people are suffering under real bombardments, ducking the terror-fraught whistles of incoming ordnance and covering their eyes as flames mount high into the night.There are places in Pakistan and Palestine, in Israel and Iraq, where ordinary civilians cower in fear, spending their daily lives dreading incendiary devices which destroy the lives of their friends and family and the economy of their countries.
Many Americans see the fireworks as celebrating America's place in the world. What I see are kids injured unnecessarily due to poor control of illegal and quasi-legal pyrotechnics. What I see are veterans suffering needlessly through the re-creation of their own private horrors.
Knowing her District was especially vulnerable, Rodriguez called for a comprehensive approach to proactively address illegal fireworks starting with widening the window for residents to report illegal fireworks in their neighborhoods through the LAPD portal.
Along with the LAPD and the LAFD, Rodriguez promoted anonymous buyback events with gift cards, event tickets and more offered in exchange for illegal fireworks.
Rodriguez has also hosted fireworks-free Independence Day celebrations at Hansen Dam for the past two years with approximately 500 drones and laser lights wowing the crowd – this year showcasing what residents love about Los Angeles featuring what we treasure most – from sea turtles to dolphins, all set to music, not explosions.
An acquaintance used to head for the hills, far from Los Angeles when the fireworks became omnipresent because his body kept thinking he was back in Nam. Others who worked for the US forces in Kuwait during the 1st Gulf War still jump every time they hear the whistle of a rocket.
Next time you watch the sparkling spectacle in the sky, think of those we should honor whom, instead, quiver and squirm at the sound – they are not cowards but human beings who defended their country, right or wrong. Think of mothers in Gaza, children in Fallujah, lovers in Jerusalem, farmers in the Kashmir, none of whom can predict if the next moment will be their last.
Let’s turn our thoughts towards next year’s epidemic of things that go boom.
In 2021, after the explosion of confiscated fireworks rocked South Los Angeles, fingers were pointed at bomb disposal personnel who miscalculated the weight of explosives deemed too dangerous to transport away from the yard in which 16 tons of fireworks were found, not the 16.5 pounds originally estimated but over 42 pounds far exceeding the capacity of the Total Containment Vessel and turning the disposal truck into a pressurized bomb.
Human error. But was it the bomb squad’s fault or the fact that the economy drove someone to amass 32,000 pounds of illegal fireworks?
These laser shows are even more spectacular events to enjoy with our families and friends. Those who want more sound and fury must skulk back their VR headsets and leave the rest of the world in peace.
Is Rodríguez tilting at windmills in her attempt to stem the tide? Perhaps. But if she doesn’t, who will lead the charge?
We desperately need to adopt better interactive applications to give fire and law enforcement officials access to real time reports from residents on illegal fireworks use. Since it’s often difficult to track and convict the perpetrators, impose severe penalties on owners of the properties from which they lift off which are far easier to identify.
And track down all those who profit, all those who are the recipients of the hundreds of thousands of dollars of fireworks purchases. And crack down on the money-headed hydra and all those they pay off to keep their profit pipeline flowing.
Now is the time to stop the trade in illegal fireworks for good.
Now is the time to start planning to replace all fireworks displays with kinder, gentler celebrations.
(Liz Amsden is a contributor to CityWatch and an activist from Northeast Los Angeles with opinions on much of what goes on in our lives. She has written extensively on the City's budget and services as well as her many other interests and passions. In her real life she works on budgets for film and television where fiction can rarely be as strange as the truth of living in today's world.)
