Mesa City Council members are just as fed up with fireworks as many residents who complained over the New Year’s Day weekend about explosions all night long, lousy air quality with smoke lingering over neighbors.
Even someone’s house burned down.
But even though the state law is consistently violated, enforcing it is a difficult problem unless cops catch someone setting off aerial fireworks, City Manager Chris Brady said.
“The only way they can enforce it is when they actually see someone lighting the fireworks,’’ Brady said. “I think people standing around in the street is not enough to enforce it.’’
Kevin Bush, a deputy Mesa fire chief and fire marshal, said fireworks sales are regulated at supermarkets and fireworks stands to ensure that only legal ones are sold.
“The biggest issue for all of us is that there really is nothing to control the influx of illegal fireworks coming into our state and our city of Mesa,’’ Bush said.