They’re comin’ to Costa Mesa

COSTA MESA ? It’s called the Big Bang, and it stands almost the height of a person ? a colorful package containing a whopping 292 different kinds of fireworks.

On Monday afternoon, it leaned in the corner of the Orange Coast College basketball fireworks stand on 17th Street as customers flocked to the windows to buy smaller items. Teeya Fernandez, the student in charge of the stand that day, said the Big Bang often resides there for most of the Fourth of July weekend.

“I think one year we sold two of those,” said Fernandez, an Anaheim resident and sports medicine major. “They’re pretty hard to sell.”

If it does sell, though, the basketball teams at OCC may be wearing mink next year. The price tag for the Big Bang: $500.

Every year on the holiday weekend, booster clubs from OCC and a number of public schools set up fireworks stands around Costa Mesa. In one of the few Orange County cities that permits residents to light their own fireworks, there’s natural public demand ? and for most clubs, the Fourth of July stands are the biggest fundraiser of the year.

The funds from fireworks sales cover numerous expenses for Newport-Mesa sports teams, including uniforms, equipment, motel bills and tournament fees. For parents, coaches and team members, it’s worth spending four days manning the counter in the hot sun.

With Newport Beach and other surrounding cities banning private fireworks displays, Costa Mesa is a haven for people who want to be dazzled up close. Still, the city sets firm limits on what can and can’t be lighted on Independence Day. In general, any fireworks that stay on the ground and feature labels of approval from the California Fire Marshal are acceptable.

Off limits: sparklers, bottle rockets, roaming candles, sky rockets or anything that flies off the ground. In general, Costa Mesa Fire Department Capt. Kevin Diamond said, it’s best to stick with the dealers by the side of the road.

“If you don’t buy it at a licensed fireworks stand, it’s not legal,” he said.

Vendors said on Monday that they frequently had to turn down requests for forbidden items.

“People come asking for everything, but we only sell the safe and legal fireworks,” said Rachel de los Santos, the Estancia High School tennis coach who helped to run a stand on Newport Boulevard.

In addition, police Capt. Ron Smith noted, residents must attain permits from the city to hold block parties on their streets. Every Fourth of July, the fire and police departments create a task force to crack down on illegal fireworks use, and Smith said the officials often check on permits.

In Newport Beach, police regularly make more than 100 arrests each Fourth of July, although Sgt. Bill Hartford said most of them were for drunken behavior rather than fireworks. For the past three years, the city has declared formerly rambunctious West Newport a “safety enhancement zone” for the Fourth of July, with fines for any citations tripled.

Many of the customers who frequented the Costa Mesa stands over the weekend were Newport residents who planned to party with their friends.

Merrillyn Davey, a Newport Harbor High School parent who worked a stand for her son’s baseball team, said she often slipped over the city line for the holiday.

“We meet with friends in Costa Mesa and light them off,” she said.dpt.04-fireworks-CPhotoInfoB11SJSL220060704j1uun5ncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Customers buy fireworks at the TNT Red Devil Fireworks stand in the Kmart shopping center at the corner of Wilson Street and Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa Monday.