Police confiscate large number of illegal fireworks from Santa Maria home

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Santa Maria Police Department received a complaint from a concerned citizen regarding a resident selling fireworks out of his home on the 1300 block of East Cox Lane.

The call came in around 5:50 p.m. on Monday.

Officers said when they responded to the home, there was a party going on at the property.

Police continued to investigate the situation and located a large number of illegal fireworks in the possession of one man. The fireworks were removed from the property as evidence.

While no arrests have been made at this time, officers are filing a report with the District Attorney's Office as it is illegal for anyone to sell fireworks out of their home.

The Santa Maria Police Department would like to remind the community that the possession of safe and sane fireworks is only allowed between 12 p.m. on June 28 and 11 p.m. on July 4. The possession of any type of firework outside of that timeframe is illegal.

In addition, safe and sane fireworks are only allowed to be used on July 4 from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

All other types of fireworks are illegal year-round.

Safe and sane fireworks are fireworks that have been deemed safe for public use by government officials. They typically have a stamp indicating they are "safe and sane" on their packaging. Police said safe and sane fireworks usually do not shoot into the air and don't make a large explosion like the fireworks normally seen at night during July 4 celebrations.