The Culver Crest Neighborhood Association put in a call to Culver City Fire Department for a statement regarding neighborhood safety concerns expressed by some of the residents. First of all, the City of Culver City is only involved peripherally. West LA College is not in Culver City. It is in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County under LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. County Sheriff and Fire are responsible for safety. The event is sponsored by the Culver City Exchange Club, a dedicated community service organization. The proceeds from the event helps many great charitable causes that they support in our City. The money stays right here.
Culver City helps to support the event by providing Police and Fire at a nominal fee and will be providing patrols and traffic control as per the letter that went out to all residents last week. The CCFD (Fire Department) will be patrolling the area in coordination with LA County Fire. Their biggest concern is illegal fireworks set off in the neighborhoods. This is the greatest risk, not the organized show, which is highly regulated. Letters were sent out to most residents in the Crest regarding brush removal as it does each and every year. The City provides a large dumpster free for all residents to use for disposal of cuttings in compliance with the City Brush Clearance Codes. The bin is located on the vacant lot where Flaxton and Youngworth meet.
The Fire Department and the City consider the Fireworks Show to be in compliance with rigorous safety regulations for such shows. The process is highly vetted. The event is produced by Garden State Fireworks. This 125 year old company is the leading national producer of such shows and is operated by a highly trained team of pyrotechnic engineers. Some degree of licensing is required and their entire process is rigorously planned and tested. You have seen their shows at the Olympics, the Washington DC Capitol Mall, New York Harbor New Years Eve, and Disney Parks (who are the largest consumer of fireworks in the world.) All fireworks are manufactured in the United States under strict quality standards and are rigorously tested. Unlike illegal fireworks, they are designed so that the embers burn “cold,” meaning that when those big rockets explode in color in the air, the embers burn completely and are almost instantly cold. No hot embers fall to the ground. No one can be harmed by them, and brush cannot catch fire from them. This is not true of illegal fireworks. Even fireworks labeled “safe and sane” can cause brushfires or burn people. This is not to say that accidents cannot happen (and they occasionally do,) but you are safer at the event than you are driving to it. So is the neighborhood.
I was told by CCFD that there will be observers in the neighborhood, and around the oil fields. They consider the oilfields to pose little danger. Oil is too deep for concern and surface level gas and oil pipelines are theoretically protected by highly sophisticated, high tech fire suppression systems intended to protect their interests from potential loss or damage by fire. LA County Fire is also standing by and patrolling. Again, the biggest threat comes from the use of illegal fireworks in the neighborhood.
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer for the wildlife and pets. The best we can do is consult our Veterinarians for calming remedies and follow instructions that have been well publicized to keep your pets protected and as calm as possible under the circumstances.