And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that common sense had left there. O’ say does that fireworks policy still make sense, Templeton?
Amid a night of celebratory explosions on July 4, just after 11 p.m. the historic Templeton Feed and Grain building caught fire, gutting the building.
Hey, I thought fireworks were illegal in SLO County! Punishable with a $1,000 fine! Sort of, but not quite.
In unincorporated areas of SLO County, all fireworks—even the so-called “safe and sane” variety—are illegal, but if communities have a fire department, as Templeton does, they can set their own rules. That’s why Oceano used to allow fireworks. They had a fire department, but fire departments are expensive, and they decided they couldn’t afford it, so now they don’t, having given over fire protection to the county via the Five Cities Fire Authority, meaning that South County town now falls under the aegis of SLO County’s no fireworks ordinance.
Uptight city of San Luis Obispo has a fire department but chooses to say no-no to fireworks, because city leaders hate fun.
“We want our community to have a joyful and safe Fourth of July,” total buzzkill and Fire Marshal Josh Daniel announced on the city website. “Fireworks are not only illegal in San Luis Obispo, but they also pose serious fire risks, especially during our hot and dry summer months. Please help protect our neighborhoods and open spaces by celebrating responsibly.”
Of course, that policy obviously doesn’t stop some chowder-headed pyros from firing off explosives and terrorizing people’s pets, but there would obviously be more fireworks chaos and pandemonium if the city said, “Light ’em up!” Considering the Templeton fire, maybe SLO’s policy is more wise than uptight.
Templeton’s fireworks policy says only safe and sane fireworks purchased from a permitted booth in Templeton are allowed, but who’s policing that and how?
According to reporting by KCBX, Templeton Fire Chief Tom Peterson said there’s evidence someone threw an incendiary device on the building’s roof. WTF? Other rumors say kids shot fireworks up there? Also, WTF? The question is, do legal fireworks create a cover for illegal ones?
A group of what appear to be four to six young people were caught on video near the building around the time of the blaze and may be involved, so the fire may not have been an errant firework but straight-up arson. Either way, I wonder what Templeton’s policy will be on the next Fourth of July.
Speaking of Oceano (and Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, Huasna, Halcyon, Edna Valley, California Valley, and unincorporated parts of SLO), did you hear Old Juan’s Cantina owner Adam Verdin has thrown his hat into the 4th District supervisor race ring? He’ll face off against incumbent and Oso Sol singer and rhythm guitarist Jimmy “Jimmy Jam” Paulding for the seat. Man, people are going to have to choose between awesome Mexican food and original Cali reggae music. That’s going to split some votes.
My question is how Verdin will run. He serves on the boards of 5Cities Homeless Coalition, Jack’s Helping Hand, and Parks California, which seem like liberal causes, but he was also criticized for his work with the Vitality Advisory Council of Oceano, an organization often opposed to the now-defunct Oceano Advisory Council over community issues. Verdin says affordable housing and open space reservation are important. Is he liberalish? Either way, things could get spicy. Imma get my popcorn.
Speaking of illiberalism, is it just me, or does it seem particularly ironic that at a time when the federal government under Herr Drumpf is rounding up brown people, sending them to concentration camps like Alligator Auschwitz or renditioning them to foreign prisons like El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, that an indigenous group like the Salinan Tribe of Monterey and SLO Counties—a tribe that can trace its ancestry to before European contact—has to jump through copious bureaucratic hoops to gain formal recognition from the federal government as an indigenous people?
This tribe’s ancestors have lived here long before Donald J. Trump’s grandfather Friedrich Drumpf, then a 16-year-old German barber, boarded a ship on Oct. 7, 1885, with a one-way ticket to America to escape three years of compulsory military service. I guess playing the bone spurs card wasn’t a thing then.
After having a 2018 petition for recognition rejected, Salinan tribal council members Communication Lead Michael Erin Woody and Tribal Law Lead Kenneth Pierce Sr. helped the tribe reapply to the Office of Federal Acknowledgment after working closely with the Department of the Interior to make sure the application has met the seven specific requirements for recognition.
“It’s a dignity issue,” Woody told New Times. “When you don’t have that federal recognition, the federal government doesn’t have a lot to offer you in terms of assistance when it comes to education, health care, housing, or anything else. We’re basically just out there continuing to hold on by a shoestring and deteriorate, and it does make things pretty difficult for all of us.”
Meanwhile, heavily armed and masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are making things horrifyingly difficult by raiding workplaces, city parks, and immigration hearings to snatch up people and deport them. Strange days. Δ
The Shredder was manufactured in the USA, so don’t deport it, ICE. Offer your two cents at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 10-20, 2025.
Instead of banning any and all fireworks, cities should provide Safe and Sane Use Classes for the public.
Prohibition does not work.
Education does and is possible by an infinate variety of methods from hands on classes, to individual training at fire staions, to TV ads on every channel, to hour long Safe and Sane TV program, to classes at our schools for students and parents. and so on and on. Open your minds to a informed public that celebrates safely