H.B. police buy 200 pounds of illegal fireworks during undercover investigation

Huntington Beach police said Tuesday that they have bought more than 200 pounds of illegal fireworks as part of an undercover investigation.

The cache — acquired last week after undercover Huntington Beach detectives contacted a person who was offering illegal fireworks for sale on social media — was turned over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad, police said.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is continuing, according to police spokeswoman Angela Bennett.

The city has a history of debate over the the sale and use of fireworks around the Fourth of July.

Last year, authorized vendors were allowed to sell “safe and sane” fireworks — generally those that don’t leave the ground or explode in the air — during limited hours on the three days leading up to the holiday and all day July 4.

In 2017, Huntington Beach allowed residents to discharge legal fireworks from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Independence Day. That window narrowed to between noon and 10 p.m. in 2018.

It is a misdemeanor under state law to possess, store, use or transport illegal fireworks. Doing so is punishable by a $1,000 fine and jail time.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.