In your April 23 opinion column, you state, “In Grover Beach, you could lose your house! Ridiculous, amirite?” Maybe an ordinance adopted by the city to fine users of illegal fireworks $1,000 could cause a homeowner to lose his home due to non-payment of the fine. But there’s a bigger picture here.
Using illegal fireworks may also cause the homeowners of the other 5,800 homes in Grover Beach to lose theirs as well. Remember the Palisades Fire just last year? Witnesses point to illegal fireworks in the neighborhood. That fire quickly grew to 37 square miles, ripping through the Palisades and Malibu neighborhoods, causing 12 deaths and destroying almost 7,000 homes and structures.
“You could literally lose your home if you get caught firing off a bottle rocket and can’t pay your $1,000 fine that compounds daily until the city takes your house—wowee! That’s what I call a stiff penalty, amirite?”
When cities adopt ordinances to protect their residents that are ignored every year by people who think it’s part of their unalienable rights to use illegal fireworks in a state plagued by severe drought conditions and high winds, cities are forced to follow up with fines and penalties. Two years ago, a homeowner in my AG neighborhood chose to use illegal fireworks, which started a fire that destroyed his home and damaged a home next to his. I’m just thankful it wasn’t windy that July 4 as I live on the hill right above his home.
But there’s a simple solution for those who feel it’s unfair that the penalties for using illegal fireworks may, in rare circumstances, cause cited homeowners to lose their homes because they “can’t pay the $1,000 fine.” Don’t use illegal fireworks. It’s not rocket science, amirite?
R. Demilo
Arroyo Grande
This article appears in April 30 – May 7, 2026.