Like I said before...

Bakersfield and fireworks do NOT mix. As soon as it began to get dark last Monday, all hell broke loose. Within an hour the level of fine particulate pollution raised 24 times what it had been. That is crazy. Folks must be really patriotic around here, and very determined to prove it. It’s rather frightening to imagine that many people setting off explosives at the same time.

Sure enough, according to The Californian, following the 4^th of July “celebrations” one man nearly died after his house caught fire thanks to a neighbor’s bottle rocket AND a firefighter had his eyelid singed when an idiot threw a ground bloomer into the air as he approached to confiscate it. (Slapping myself on the forehead.) Oh yeah, they also caused “hundreds of thousands in damage” to homes and other property.

Firefighters cruised around town all night confiscating illegal fireworks. Rather than take the time to write citations, they just grabbed the stuff and told them they're stupid. City Fire Chief Ron Fraze estimated they could have written as many as 400 citations had they taken the time. According to the paper, “firefighters took at least 40 homemade bombs off the streets in 2004” but none were found this year. (Yet.)

Then there’s the family who caused $40, 000 in damage to their home after putting spent fireworks into the trash and then putting the trash INTO THE HOUSE!

The house, not surprisingly, is in Oildale.