Marina, Calif.: July 4, 2008 – IR Summary/NYT – Dozens of blazes have devastated sections of dried out California over the last two weeks, burning more than 500,000 acres, destroying homes and other property, and costing the already budget-challenged state more than $50 million in firefighting expenses. Why the Administration is sleeping, not doing anything to control the fire.

Lis and Robert Billingsley — retirees, volunteers and proud American Legion members — said they had exactly one word to describe sales this holiday period at the fireworks stand they run here for the Legion.

“Lousy,” said Ms. Billingsley, speaking almost in unison with her husband. “Thanks to the TV and the fires they are putting on the TV, it’s the worst year ever.”

Fearing that more fires might be sparked by errant pyrotechnics, a number of towns and cities have imposed a temporary ban on the use and sale of fireworks, even of ordinarily legal so-called “safe and sane” fireworks, roughly defined as those that do not fly, move or explode. (Except for use by licensed technicians, bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles, M-80s and the like are already illegal under state law.)
Those bans have meant headaches for people like the Billingsleys, who are out of harm’s way but who depend on fireworks and people’s enthusiasm about them to raise money.

Official Fourth of July fireworks displays have also been shelved in several cities, including Folsom in the Central Valley, where more wildfires erupted this week.
Police forces, including the one in this beachfront community about 100 miles south of San Francisco, have declared “zero tolerance” policies toward amateur pyrotechnicians. Those caught with illegal fireworks are subject to arrest and hefty fines.

Border inspections have been beefed up to hunt for such fireworks, and in San Francisco, police officials are promising to use so-called “shot spotters,” devices usually employed to determine where a gun is fired, as a way to detect pyrotechnics lawbreakers. Other police forces are using fireworks informants and helicopter patrols to hunt illegal displays.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who as a former action-movie star knows a thing or two about explosions, has weighed in, telling Californians to boycott all fireworks, though he stopped short of calling for a statewide ban.

“I know that the people that are selling all this stuff are going to go crazy now when I say this,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said last week, “but don’t buy any of the fireworks.”
All of which has put an undeniable damper on sales and the mood at some fireworks stands, most of them nonprofit operations that raise money for causes including youth programs.

“He’s the governor, he can say whatever he wants to say, but I think it was a little premature,” said Keith Simi, who runs a roadside stand here in Marina, one community that has not imposed a ban and is typically a fireworks retailing hub around the Fourth. “I mean, most of these fires started way, way before the fireworks started selling.”

Sure enough, a vast majority of the recent fires were sparked by a line of storms and lightning that rolled off the Pacific Ocean on the night of June 20.

That includes a large fire that is still growing along the Central Coast south of here, prompting the evacuation on Wednesday of the scenic Big Sur Valley and the closing of 30 miles of the coastal highway.More