On Monday, responding to a disturbance in Upland, Calif., police found and seized nearly 400 pounds of illegal fireworks stored in a business complex. After police conducted a probation search of the commercial unit, the suspect, who was on probation for assault, was booked into a county jail for brandishing a weapon, possession of illegal fireworks for sale and a probation violation. That same night, conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle in San Bernardino, Calif., police found and seized over 2,000 pounds of illegal fireworks and made one related arrest. These seizures come in the region’s annual crackdown on illegal pyrotechnics in the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July.The County of Los Angeles Fire Code, Title 32, Section 5601.3 states that it is illegal to “store, manufacture, sell, use or handle all forms of fireworks without a valid permit in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.” Addressing firework safety, representatives from 11 fire departments across Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County held their annual press conference at the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center on Wednesday. The representatives were joined by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who urged residents not to use fireworks.“LA is proud, always proud, to celebrate freedom and community. But when fireworks are in the wrong hands the consequences can be devastating,” said Bass. “Illegal fireworks are not just a nuisance, they are dangerous.”
Solis stressed the city’s zero-tolerance policy for illegal fireworks, enforced by LAPD and the sheriff’s department. Individuals caught using and selling illegal fireworks face prosecution.“Even fireworks labeled “safe” and “sane” are illegal in these unincorporated areas, and using them can result in fines, injuries and most serious consequences,” said Solis. “Each year fireworks cause hundreds of injuries, some of them severe and life-altering.”According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, misuse, misfire and malfunction resulted in 11 firework-related deaths and an estimated 14,700 firework-related injuries in 2024 – an approximate increase of 38% in deaths and 52% in injuries in comparison with the year prior. In alignment with this national trend, the Los Angeles County Fire Department also reported increasing rates of firework-related injuries in a 5-year comparison study. Fireworks resulted in 35 injuries last year – an approximate increase of 75% in comparison with the year prior and 106% in comparison with 2020…