I think that everyone knows that the grasslands surrounding our city are bone dry. And one of our most highly treasured days of national recognition is July 4, the day that we celebrate our independence from the British monarchy. Moreover, this particular Fourth of July will be extra special because it is our semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The second U.S. President, John Adams, believed that the day should be commemorated with “pomp and parade, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other from this time forward forevermore.” Illuminations, of course, meant fireworks. And fireworks that make contact with dry grass means big trouble.
Another historical accident
Like the discovery of penicillin, fireworks began as an accident. About 1,200 years ago, a Chinese alchemist was trying to produce a mixture of substances that would bring about eternal life. He mixed sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate together and, when the compound caught fire, gunpowder was invented. When the mixture was stuffed into a tube of bamboo, it exploded. So, the first of a great variety of fireworks was the now-ubiquitous firecracker.
About 800 years ago, European missionaries visited China and carried gunpowder back to the Western world where early scientists used it to develop weapons, like muskets and cannons. Also, “firemasters” and “green men” used the substance to entertain crowds. Firemasters prepared a display of fountains that produced an orange aerial spray, while green men (who covered themselves with leaves as a protection against burns) handled the explosive products.
By the seventeenth century, British inventors had added substances to the mixture that produced a variety of colors to the aerial displays, and these “modern” fireworks were introduced to Britain’s colonies in America. So, the use of fireworks, as advocated by President Adams to celebrate our independence from the British monarchy was actually a gift from the British, a little historical irony.
Things were quite different in the early 1800s. Today, we know that firing a gun into the air means that the projectile will come down somewhere. That could be on a street that is busy with traffic, someone’s barbeque party, or the middle of a person’s head. And fireworks, especially airborne ones, can start fires if they land on a wooden roof or in an open field. And, here in Madera, like the rest of the Great Central Valley, we are especially threatened by the possibility of wildfires.
The fireworks trade
As a young teen growing up in Brooklyn, NY, I accompanied a few friends on a subway ride to Manhattan’s Chinatown to purchase illegal fireworks. Once the exchange of money for goods was completed, we took off running because we knew from word of mouth that local gangs in the area would steal the fireworks from us and resell them to the next suckers. We ran all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. When we arrived at our own neighborhood, we sold half of the goods to other kids for triple or quadruple the original price and used the other half ourselves to celebrate July Fourth in the fashion advocated by former President Adams. I suppose it was also a celebration of capitalism.
Today, the sale of fireworks, both legal (“Safe-and-Sane”) and illegal is big business. In California, American companies supply legal fireworks to charitable and non-profit organizations that set up kiosks a few days prior to July 4. According to Madera Chief of Police Gino Chiaramonte, illegal fireworks are often a parallel business, carried on by long-distance truckers who buy the goods in states where they are legal and then resell them here, but on a larger scale than was possible for a bunch of teenaged scofflaws from a poor Brooklyn neighborhood. Yet illegal fireworks seem to get into the hands of many thousands (perhaps millions) of Californians, mostly for use on July 4 and New Year’s Eve, but also for birthdays, weddings, and similar events.
It’s not worth it
Many California communities are cracking down on the use of illegal fireworks because they are dangerous to the users and the cause of much community damage, particularly because they cause fires to break out. In fact, Chief Chiaramonte told me that, two years ago, there were so many local fires raging simultaneously that we did not have enough firefighters to put out the blazes. So, communities are “getting tough” on the use of illegal fireworks.
Writing for Your Central Valley, Juanita Adame states, “This Fourth of July, Hanford fire officials are taking illegal fireworks crackdown to new heights, literally.” Hanford officials have created the “It’s Not Worth It” campaign to reduce the use of illegal fireworks. First, “they changed the Hanford Municipal Code to allow… a thousand dollars per firework charge up to a total of $10,000 per day.” Then, during the holidays, officials will launch drones that are equipped with “night vision, thermal imaging, and high-powered zoom cameras.”
Madera and many other cities and counties up and down the Great Central Valley have similar programs. For example, Madera will also have drones in the air supporting nearly three dozen officers specifically dedicated to protecting the community from fireworks danger. While Hanford’s campaign is supported by a combination of state and federal grants along with city funding, Madera’s program derives its financial support from General Funds and Measure K, according to Chief Chiaramonte.
Moreover, Madera police can now assign liability to a responsible person. So, when a drone detects the use of illegal fireworks, the owner of the property, a renter, or the parent of a minor offender may be cited. And the penalty will include not only a $1,000 fine per violation but also the cost of recovery from any damage that has occurred.
I hope that Madera residents will have a joyous and safe celebration of our independence. Democracy is a gift that should be cherished, not just an excuse to ignite a quarter-stick of dynamite or to set a bottle rocket into the air, not knowing where it will come down.
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Jim Glynn is Professor Emeritus of Sociology. He may be contacted at j_glynn@att.net.