L.A. May Fight San Fernando Fireworks Sale With Fire Pact

The mayor of San Fernando said Wednesday his city will consider banning the sale of fireworks in response to a threat by Los Angeles officials to cut off fire protection to the city.

Mayor Ray Richardson was responding to a motion introduced at Wednesday’s Los Angeles City Council meeting calling for an end to the sale of fireworks in San Fernando as a condition of a new fire protection contract for that city.

Under the existing 10-year contract, which expires June 30, 1989, San Fernando is paying Los Angeles about $1.4 million this year for fire protection.

Fireworks are banned in Los Angeles, but fireworks sold in San Fernando often find their way into Los Angeles, which surrounds the small city, said Councilwoman Joy Picus, who introduced the motion.

“There is a cruel irony to this situation,” said Picus, who represents the west San Fernando Valley.

Council Action

Richardson said the San Fernando City Council will take up the issue within a month.

“If L.A. takes a hard line and insists on eliminating the sale of fireworks, then perhaps that is the way we will have to go,” he said.

San Fernando City Administrator Donald E. Penman noted that his city is reviewing alternatives to the contract with Los Angeles, including possibly contracting with Los Angeles County Fire Department or starting a new San Fernando fire department.

San Fernando did away with its fire department in 1979 after deciding that Los Angeles could provide the service at a lower cost. Penman called the contract a “good deal” for Los Angeles because “their staffing would not change whether they serve us or not.”

This week, 22 fireworks stands opened in San Fernando, all operated by nonprofit organizations. They are the only locations in the San Fernando Valley where fireworks can be sold legally to the public.

Groups such as the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce have operated stands to raise money since 1949, Penman said. He estimated that each booth earns about $5,000 profit.

The city also benefits financially from the sales, earning about 7% of the gross sales. The city received $49,000 last year on gross sales of $700,000, Penman said.

“But the issue is not what the city makes off it, but that the clubs and organizations depend on this money,” he said. “State law allows communities to do this. It’s a local choice.”

Other Sales

Other cities bordering Los Angeles sell fireworks but San Fernando is the only one that contracts with Los Angeles for fire protection.

Picus said any monetary benefit to San Fernando community groups “is more than offset by the continuing threat posed by the sale of these fireworks.”

Two years ago, Picus made the same proposal. It was sent to a council committee, where it has languished.

“I don’t recall ever seeing it,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, former chairman of the Police, Fire and Public Safety Committee.

Picus said she did not push for approval of her proposal two years ago because at the time the city had not begun negotiations with San Fernando on a new contract.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department said the city Fire Commission last year ordered the new contract to contain a clause that bans fireworks in San Fernando. The contract must be approved by the City Council.

Picus’ motion will come before the council Tuesday.