Friday, Jun. 27, 2008

Law officers watch for users and sellers of illegal fireworks

Part of Jon Rivera's job as an arson investigator is to find those who use or sell illegal fireworks.

One Fourth of July afternoon, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department detective was patrolling Modesto's airport neighborhood in an undercover vehicle when a teenage boy set off an M-80, an explosive illegal firecracker that packs a punch.

As Rivera drove by, the boy lit the firecracker.

"It literally shook my eardrum," Rivera said. "It was just the large volume of gunpowder (the M-80) has inside. I kept checking my ear to see if it was bleeding."

Rivera, who wasn't injured, talked about the incident Thursday at a Modesto news conference to demonstrate the dangers of illegal fireworks.

Stanislaus County Fireworks Safety Task Force representatives announced that they are targeting users and sellers of illegal fireworks with increased fines and penalties, including a minimum $750 fine in Modesto.

Sheriff's officials in unincorporated areas used to issue citations with a fine of $100 to users and sellers. That state law changed this year, Rivera said, allowing for citations with fines from $500 to $1,000.

"We're going to really try to deter people from using illegal fireworks," Rivera said.

Illegal fireworks make their way into California from neighboring states and countries where they are legal, such as Nevada and Mexico, task force officials said.

The Internet is a new trafficking avenue. Sales are done online and the contraband is moved by unsuspecting mail carriers, said Dennis Revell, a task force spokesman.

"They move them unknowingly because the packages are marked 'toys' or 'novelties,' " he said.

The illegal imports begin moving into the state by March, he said.

Large commercial operations move them here, hoping to cash in. Several years ago, authorities stopped semis on their way to Southern California loaded with $40 million worth of illegal fireworks, Revell said.

Officers: Zero tolerance

The task force, in its fourth year, is made up of Stanislaus County public safety agencies that work with nonprofit organizations that sell legal fireworks and the state-approved fireworks industry.

Revell said the task force is funded by voluntary $75 donations from each vendor selling legal fireworks and a matching donation from the two affiliated legal fireworks producers, TNT Fireworks and Phantom Fireworks.

The task force includes Modesto police, Modesto Fire Department, Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, Ceres Emergency Services Department, Oakdale Fire Department, Patterson Fire Department, Salida Fire Protection District, West Stanislaus Fire Protection District and the Sheriff's Department.

The focus at Thursday's gathering was on illegal fireworks and the responsible use of those that are state-approved, also known as "Safe and Sane" fireworks.

Modesto Fire Chief Jim Miguel said 70 people were issued citations last year for using or possessing illegal fireworks.

He said people have become brazen, igniting M-80s or launching 4- to 6-inch mortars from golf course sand traps.

"We won't put up with it," Miguel said. "We intend to put a stop to it."

Spotting a "Safe and Sane" seal from the state's fire marshal is the easiest way to identify what's legal, he said.

Miguel also offered an easy guide to identify illegal fireworks: "If it leaves the ground or explodes, it is illegal."

Once it leaves the ground, "there's no telling what field, what roof or where they're going to land," he said.

He believes the vast majority of illegal users know they are breaking the law. And those who pretend they don't know?