‘My least favorite holiday’: Bay Area fire crews brace for annual Fourth of July dangers

Some Bay Area communities allow the use of so-called “safe and sane” fireworks such as hand-held sparklers around July Fourth, even as most ban anything other than professional, licensed shows. The devices are offered as an alternative to illegal fireworks, which explode in the air or move on the ground.

“They might be legal. They’re not safe.” Contra Costa Fire Investigator Matt Larson said at a news conference late last week. “Every single one of those fireworks — including sparklers...