‘Safe and sane’ fireworks — characterized generally as those that do not have aerial effects or explode, and are therefore legal — went on sale Wednesday in parts of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Profits from the fireworks stand at the corner of Grand Avenue and Halcyon Road in Arroyo Grande go directly to the band program at Arroyo Grand High School to help pay for travel expenses.
“We have a lot of people that can’t wait to buy fireworks," said volunteer Steve Murray. We had very good sales when we first opened at noon today."
Profits from every firework sold go directly to band students at Arroyo Grande High School.
“The band takes several trips down to Southern California for various competitions or performances. That costs a lot of money,” explained Murray.
In the past, the band program has made up to $45,000 from just one week of selling fireworks.
“Two years ago, it made almost 100% of our fundraising goal in one week,” said Murray. “This will make probably at least 50% of our fundraising goal for the year.”
It’s a similar story at fireworks stands across the Central Coast.
“It’s a great cause to be here," said Eddie Johnson, who is a volunteer for the Victory Harvest Church of God in Christ. "We’re so excited to be able to serve the community and to have safe and sane fireworks. Our cause, we help the poor, we help people. That’s the No. 1 thing we do. We have give-out programs, we do things for kids."
Johnson was a standout running back at Santa Maria High School and was the University of Utah's all-time leading rusher for over two decades before being eclipsed by Zack Moss in 2019. Johnson had a short career in the NFL.
“These are all nonprofits so it’s huge to our community,” said John Mata, who is an inspector at the Santa Maria Fire Department.
He was out at one stand on Wednesday making sure that everything is up to code.
“We have a checklist we’re going through making sure that they’re storing their fireworks 25 feet from the fireworks booth. We’re also making sure they have the identifiers like the ‘no smoking’ signs and all these visual signs that are in front,” explained Mata.
He’s also making sure that there’s no fire risk from electrical cords.
Education is another key aspect of enforcement.
“We want the safe and sane fireworks here. We do not want the illegal ones here. Those are the ones that drive out the safe and sane fireworks,” said Mata.
In Santa Barbara County, ‘safe and sane’ fireworks are only allowed within the city limits of Santa Maria, Lompoc, and Guadalupe.
In San Luis Obispo County, you can light off these fireworks in Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Oceano, Templeton, San Miguel, and Morro Bay (on private property only).
It’s important to note that the use of fireworks is generally limited to only the Fourth of July.
