Fireworks are already popping off in northern Santa Barbara County, and we’re still a couple of weeks away from the Fourth of July.
Surprised? Nope.
Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Lompoc—not to be dramatic, but the city streets turn into a bit of a war zone as darkness descends on Independence Day. You have to be careful where you’re walking so you don’t get blasted with a mortar.
It’s ridiculous! It’s fun! It’s dangerous! It’s insane! It’s illegal.
And at least one group of two wants you to knock it off with the non-safe and non-sane fireworks.
These two ladies from Guadalupe are much nicer than I am. They’re appealing to your compassionate side: Give the gift of quiet. It’s a nice sentiment, amirite?
They formed their group after last year’s fireworks display.
“This last year was the absolute worst in my memory,” Deborah Sykes said. “It’s been a problem since we moved here, but it’s gotten worse.”
Sykes is a 30-year resident of Guadalupe, and she wants people to understand that they don’t want to “eliminate” fireworks—safe and sane fireworks are legal, after all—they just want the city to feel like less of a war zone on the Fourth.
Their messages are simple. Don’t make babies cry. Don’t trigger people’s PTSD. Don’t scare pets. Be considerate!
These arguments against illegal fireworks have been made repeatedly. People put signs up on their lawns. They make pleas on social media. But, repeatedly, people prove that they aren’t compassionate at all if it means ruining their fun.
People are, in fact, assholes who won’t cave to the polite pressure.
Somebody had to say it! If $1,000 fines don’t discourage the behavior, a plea for compassion certainly isn’t going to do it.
Guadalupe cited 15 people in 2024 and seven in 2023. Santa Maria launched a drone program to help pinpoint culprits and targeted more than 60 people for citations in 2024. That was double the previous year’s citations. People don’t seem to care, as the fireworks show has already started.
In Lompoc, an errant firework started a fire last year, so the city is stepping up its enforcement game with unmanned aerial vehicles, aka giant drones.
These cities have got an eye on you scofflaws. Maybe it’s time to increase the fines and the pressure.
The Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce ratcheted up the pressure on the City Council to continue paying the share it’s been paying to keep the chamber functioning as it should. A threat to close rallied residents to the June 17 council meeting, where dozens spoke in favor of keeping the chamber solvent.
But the city isn’t giving the chamber money without strings—those strings just have yet to be determined. The strings don’t already exist?
This seems like a repeated offense with the city, which ran into no-strings-attached issues last year with Explore Lompoc, a tourism organization funded by guests staying in Lompoc hotels.
A Santa Barbara County grand jury report accused the city of not exercising enough oversight and the organization of lacking transparency. I’m not sure the chamber is doing any better.
The Canary is ready to exert some more pressure. Send impolite comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 6, 2025.
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