While Southern Californians watched the spectacle of explosions in the night sky on Independence Day, fireworks also caused a significant amount of mayhem across the Southland that swamped first responders until the early hours of Wednesday.
On L.A.’s 6th Street Bridge, chaos and carelessness broke out as revelers shot off illegal fireworks, climbed the viaduct’s arches and drove on the wrong side of the road. One person even had what appeared to be a homemade rocket launcher he was using to fire off the explosives.
Emergency crews had their hands full, responding to thousands of calls overnight, some of which included serious injuries.
Officials with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the Adams-Normandie neighborhood after one man lost part of his right hand while lighting off fireworks.
In L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood, several cars went up in flames on North Lake Street. Authorities suspect illegal fireworks started the fires.
Over in Van Nuys, officials said it was also likely fireworks that ignited a tree near an apartment building. Firefighters were able to knock down the flames before they spread to nearby homes. A witness at the scene said told KTLA that a group of people were shooting fireworks at each other when the fire started.
“They were throwing fireworks. It was crazy. They were just like throwing them at each other. So, it was really like an accident, you know?” the witness said.
In the Riverside County community of Corona, residents with fire extinguishers rushed to alert their neighbor that her backyard was on fire. A witness said a neighbor was setting off illegal fireworks before the blaze started. Fire crews were able to keep the flames from entirely engulfing the home on Katy Way, near Evelyn Street.
“This is my home for 45 years and now look at it, it’s destroyed by fireworks,” Barbara Tucker, the homeowner, told KTLA. “It’s illegal and they knew they were doing something illegal, and they didn’t care about other people.”
And on Mount Rubidoux in Riverside, flames burned through dry brush after catching fire from a professional fireworks show put on by the City of Riverside. The fire, which started at around 9:15 p.m., was finally knocked down at around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.
In addition to the problems caused by fireworks, officials with the California Highway Patrol released sobering totals that showed 68 people were killed during the agency’s Maximum Enforcement Period, which went into effect Friday evening.