[img]2632|right|||no_popup[/img]It was not on the schedule, but the Middle of June fireworks almost upstaged the Fourth of July fireworks show.
Worried residents of Culver Crest, not much more than a baseball throw from the West Los Angeles College campus, site of this year’s Fourth spectacular, are protesting the holiday fireworks at West.
They already reside inside the daunting shadow of the Inglewood Oil Field.
They fear a meandering spark accidentally could ignite the perceived tinderbox and set off a tragedy.
“Having fireworks at WLAC would run counter to any sense or logic,” their letter to the Los Angeles County Fire Dept. Therefore, we, the residents of Culver City, implore you to suspend the fireworks show at WLAC.”
Emotionally, Culver Crest residents have lived through five fires in recent years, and they don’t want the environment tempted to set off another.
Led by Khin Khin Gyi, M.D., one of the neighborhood’s most energetic activists, and her husband Bruce Enos, 108 aroused residents of the Crest and adjacent areas including Raintree, signed a petition, hoping, slimly, to block the show moved from Culver City High School, which was not available.
Optimistically, their chances of detouring the Fourth at West were a slightly longer shot than a miracle.
Last week, since the campus is in County territory, they sent off their plea to the County Fire Dept. and Chief Tony Lewis. He told them no.
He did, however, promise to send an extra truck as a precautionary measure.
Near the top of their seven-page request for reasonableness, Dr. Gyi and Mr. Enos cited the lethal potential of Northgate Street.
Northgate “is right under high tension electrical wires that run along the length of that street,” the couple wrote. “There are 12-inch in diameter gas pipes coming out of the Inglewood Oil Field that runs the shallow berm along Northgate Street as well.”
The 133-word petition read:
“We, the undersigned residents of Culver City, support the celebration of the 4th of July with fireworks. We also believe that such celebration should be done in a responsible fashion, without subjecting the neighborhood to fire danger. However, we have had 5 fires in the last year in the fields adjacent to the Inglewood Oil Fields. In addition, WLAC is adjacent to Marycrest Manor, where 57 patients with impaired mobility reside. Evacuation of these patients for an emergency would pose a challenge at best and a nightmare at worst. Furthermore, some of the residents have received letters from the fire marshal saying they live in a fire hazard zone. As such, we implore Fire Chief Tony Lewis of L.A. County and the Culver City City Council to suspend fireworks at WLAC this year.”
