Jun 26, 2008 12:36 am US/Pacific
Watsonville Forbids Fireworks, Gilroy Rejects Ban
GILROY (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
Gilroy's city council Tuesday decided against a city ban on "safe and sane" fireworks, arguing it would do little to address fire danger. Meanwhile, Watsonville's council has unanimously approved to ban fireworks sales.
In Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, where the nearby Trabing Fire has recently burned about 630 acres and destroyed 10 homes, city council members voted 6-0 in favor of the ban Wednesday night.
During the meeting, Fire Chief Mark Bisbee said public safety is paramount, despite the money raised in fireworks sales. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are pumped into schools, churches and sports teams with the sales.
Gilroy's city council Tuesday decided against a city ban on "safe and sane" fireworks, arguing it would do little to address fire danger, a city spokesman said Wednesday.
"Ultimately," spokesman Joe Kline said, the council decided that eliminating sales and use of the safer pyrotechnics "wouldn't really mitigate that problem."
The City Council voted 5-1 to keep an existing ordinance that allows nonprofits to sell the fireworks only between July 1 and July 5, and only for use during that time, Kline said.
Kline said about 50 residents showed up at the Tuesday night meeting, and those who spoke—all from the nonprofit and community groups that benefit from the fireworks sales—were universally against the ban.
Kline said the city council members reasoned that the current ordinance is "very well-regulated," with restrictions on the types of fireworks, and when and where they can be used, and that a ban would not address concerns about recent wildfires in the area.
Most of the problems related to fireworks are from "illegal use of illegal fireworks," such as bottle rockets and Roman candles, Kline said.
Police and fire officials continue to crack down on the use of illegal fireworks in Gilroy, he added.
The Hummingbird and Whitehurst fires, which together charred nearly a thousand acres of grassland west of Gilroy and prompted some temporary home evacuations, have since been contained, according to Cal Fire officials.
No structures were damaged by the two fires, though smoke from wildfires in neighboring counties continues to drift over Gilroy, depending on wind conditions, Kline said.
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