Adelanto residents press council to curb illegal fireworks as officials weigh temporary ban and enforcement plan

Adelanto — Dozens of residents and public‑safety officials packed a July 13 council workshop as the city studied how to limit the damage, noise and large cleanup bills tied to July 4 fireworks.

“Your station here on Rancho Road ran 76 calls for service. Thirty‑three of those were fire‑related calls,” said Kelly Anderson, assistant chief of San Bernardino County Fire who is also serving as the city’s fire chief, as she described a surge in holiday calls and the costs and risks of fireworks in the High Desert. Anderson said county fire resources more than double on July 4 and cited last week’s Summit Fire (about 2,700 acres), which she said was started by illegal fireworks and required mutual aid and aircraft, pushing first‑night suppression costs past $2 million.

The presentation set the tone for a public comment period in which residents split sharply. Many urged a straight ban on all consumer fireworks to protect pets, veterans with post‑traumatic stress disorder and aging residents; others argued fireworks are a longstanding community tradition that funds local nonprofits.

“It was like World War II,” said one resident describing his neighborhood’s experience. Multiple speakers blamed visitors from neighboring cities for bringing illegal, explosive devices into Adelanto and leaving large amounts of debris, while vendors and nonprofit volunteers said safe‑and‑sane sales fund programs across the year.

Speakers offered a range of solutions: higher fines and earlier enforcement against sellers, designated discharge zones or a single controlled show at the stadium, a permit program or resident‑only discharge rules, expanded public education campaigns, and new reporting tools such as drones or acoustic sensors to detect and deter illegal activity.

Councilmembers debated competing priorities. Councilwoman Evans said she did not want to choose between safety and tradition and recommended a set of practical rules — restricting discharge to private residences or permitted sites, creating clear hours, requiring basic fire‑suppression equipment when fireworks are in use, and investing in public education and reporting systems. Another councilmember favored a temporary ban to allow staff time to design a robust enforcement and public‑education plan. Councilmember Mesa urged letting residents decide a permanent ban by ballot and recommended targeted corridor enforcement to limit problems on Seneca, Bellflower and other major arteries.

City staff recommended immediate and near‑term actions: draft a resident survey to be included with utility bills, pursue options to fund overtime enforcement or a contract code‑enforcement team for the holiday period, evaluate a stadium‑based professional display or drone show as a centralized alternative, and form a temporary 4th‑of‑July committee to develop a detailed ordinance and implementation plan.

The workshop produced no ordinance vote. Council instructed staff to draft the survey and an enforcement framework, and to return with options for targeted enforcement corridors and a staged plan for community‑led events. The meeting was adjourned with the council scheduling follow‑up review and further community engagement.