Fireworks sales to start today

-- Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- They’ll come in with a bang and will disappear in a flash.

Vendors, sheltered in 33 brightly painted wooden stands in the city, were

scheduled to begin selling fireworks this morning. Proceeds, which one

seller predicts may be as much as $5,000 per stand, will go to a variety

of city social service agencies.

“Money we raise will help boy scout troops experience a good summer,”

said Bud Hohl, a volunteer vendor from the Youth Services Assn., who is

selling fireworks from a stand in the Stater Bros. parking lot on Newport

Boulevard.

Costa Mesa is one of 100 cities in California permitted to sell fireworks

for New Year’s Eve. But the city’s fireworks vendors are only allowed to

keep their stands open for three days, unlike most other California

cities, which are allowed five.

Officials from neighboring Newport Beach, where selling and igniting any

type of fireworks is illegal, aren’t bursting with excitement. They are

concerned their residents will cross the city border to buy fireworks and

ignite them in Newport Beach.

Hohl said he will check the age, not the hometown, of fireworks shoppers

before making a sale. California law requires people to be over 18 to

purchase fireworks.

“I understand their concern,” Hohl said. “But in the long run, sales will

benefit programs here that serve the needs of the community.”