The Los Angeles County Fire Department held a firework safety demonstration to inform community members about the danger of firework usage Wednesday, July 28.

“It is important that we educate the community,” said 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “The use of fireworks of any kind is illegal and can cause serious damage or even death.”

Barger, as well as Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby and Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth, were all there to deliver the importance of safety. As if on cue, during the demonstration, firefighters across town also quickly extinguished a spot fire near where almost 1,000 acres burned over the weekend.

In addition to public officials, the Grossman Burn Center had staff on hand to discuss the health hazards associated with illegal fireworks, before a professional pyrotechnic company demonstrated the power of fireworks explosions through burning clothes and an exploded watermelon.

Presenters spoke to inform the public about Santa Clarita’s “zero firework tolerance” campaign, why using fireworks is not permitted and the harm explosions can cause to neighbors and surrounding terrain.

While injuries and death from firework users is a prominent concern, officials also expressed the threat fireworks pose to California after the five-year drought recovery.

“We are in an area that is prime for brush fires,” says Keith Mora, captain of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “The fuels are dead and there is undergrowth that has been dead for the past five years because of the drought.”

“Even though the ground may look green,” said Mora, “the ground will burn, the fire will grow and then we are constantly playing catch up because the flames grow and spread so fast.”

Barger also expressed the importance of the firework safety exhibit, as officials pointed out that fireworks can burn up to 2,000 degrees — equivalent to the heat of a blowtorch.

“We can talk about the dangers (of fireworks), but when you see firsthand the explosion and the impact fireworks have,” Barger said, “that drives home the point. We talk (about the dangers) and that shows (the dangers).”

Furthermore, data from last year’s Fourth of July shows that holiday festivities caused 31 fires and 3,400 firework-related incidents in Los Angeles County, a 60 percent increase from 2015.

Moreover, 90 percent of wildfires are started by humans, meaning that 90 percent of wildfires are preventable.

“As much as we love this day,” Smyth said, “we have to follow the law.”

The Los Angeles County Fire department is going to staff 50 additional units, dispatchers, patrols and public information officers on Independence Day, as well as 500 excess personal throughout the county.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will also be supplying supplemental patrols.

Repercussions for using fireworks can result in a $1,000-$2,500 fine for a first offense of possession and use, adjacent to up to one year in jail.

“Our firefighters risk their safety protecting lives and property every single day,” says Supervisor Barger. “They deserve our help in preventing fire emergencies.”