No time to let guard down on fireworks around Modesto. Even professionals botch it

Two main takeaways from the vegetation fire sparked by a professional fireworks display Saturday at the Oakdale Rodeo grounds:

• Precautions worked. A fire engine and water tender, arranged in advance, were on hand and quickly doused the flames. Kudos to All American Bash Concert sponsors and firefighters alike for effective preparation.
  
  
• Fireworks are dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Here you had professionals in charge, and things still went wrong. If not for the crew on standby — just in case — things could have been much worse.

Think about that as you plan your celebration with friends and family and neighbors on the block. You won’t have a hot shot crew waiting in the wings to fix things if they get out of hand.

If Saturday’s example were not enough, our area suffered three other fires on that same night caused by illegal fireworks. Neighbors in Turlock lost six cypress trees and a fence, and two vegetation fires sparked south of the Modesto Airport.

All on the weekend before the approaching holiday weekend, with the Fourth of July following on Monday.

Does anyone need reminding just how dry it is out there? In the middle of an extended drought, as we are, is no time to let our guard down. It’s because of the drought this year that traditional fireworks over Don Pedro Reservoir were canceled.

Last year, nine people died and an estimated 11,500 were injured in accidents involving fireworks across the United States, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Incidents are up 25% from 15 years ago, the commission says.

We haven’t even broached the angst suffered by many terrified pets, especially dogs. They and their owners pay a price, sometimes a heavy one, for the indulgence of others.

Plenty of areas long ago outlawed all fireworks, including safe and sane ones. They include Tuolumne County to our east and San Joaquin County to our north, where risk of damage and injury outweighs nonprofit income, personal freedom and simple delight.

Modesto fireworks scandal

A debate over whether to outlaw legal fireworks in Modesto raged five decades ago, when then-Fire Chief C. Wayne Everett was caught cooking the books to make fireworks incidents look worse than they really were. An investigation showed that 28 Modesto fire records had been secretly altered.

Everett was allowed to retire in 1974 at age 52 rather than face prosecution. His two-year crusade against safe and sane fireworks sputtered and went out like a spent sparkler, and we’ve had legal fireworks ever since.

If you want the freedom to continue enjoying street displays, do it right.

Follow the rules. Always have a bucket of water and a garden hose on hand. Never modify or enhance fireworks, never set off illegal firecrackers, and never light safe and sane ones near bushes or grass. Never put spent fireworks straight in a garbage container; douse them with water. Never let young children do the lighting, and monitor them closely; sparklers burn at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Consider ditching a fete on your street in favor of watching a professional display, perhaps at Woodward Reservoir north of Oakdale, after the Modesto Nuts game at John Thurman Field, or Gustine High School — whose events probably feature a firefighting crew standing by, just in case.

Have fun, but be courteous and safe.