Officials Warn L.A. Residents to Handle Fireworks Safely

By City News Service

Public safety officials recently urged Southlanders to be careful when using fireworks as the Fourth of July approaches.

All fireworks -- even sparklers -- are illegal in the city of Los Angeles, "and have been since World War II," according to Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

However, fireworks are legal in some areas of the county, and officials asked people to be careful when using them.

"I don't consider any firework to be safe or sane," Scott Miller of the county fire department told CBS2.

"Ninety percent of all of our victims every year are from 'safe and sane' fireworks," Miller said. "A sparkler for example -- things that people assume are very harmless -- (burns) at 1,200 degrees."