Crews cleanup West Beach as spectators react to Santa Barbara fireworks

Santa Barbara’s West Beach is back to normal after an estimated 75,000 spectators filled the streets to watch Thursday’s Fourth of July fireworks show.

“Everybody was in a good mood,” Mercy Bubalo from the San Gabriel Valley said. “Everybody was really nice, really family-oriented and we really liked it.”

Early Friday morning you could still smell the scent of gunpowder when walking next to the crews who were charged with cleaning up debris from the earlier night’s show.

“The cleanup is a little tedious,” said crew member Rodney Bollinger. “So much stuff gets scattered around from the shells and the city has been really good helping us clean up and it’s really appreciated.”

It’s a thankless job, but the men who worked on putting the show together and then cleaning it up, say it’s all worth it when the show goes off without a hitch.