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OAKLAND — Every year on the Fourth of July, Oakland’s flatlands erupt in a barrage of homegrown firework displays to rival any waterfront show in the Bay Area.
The crackle and pop of firecrackers mixes with the resonate booms of M-80s, that set off car alarms and sends pets into hiding. Cars maneuver past Fountains shooting sparks a feet off the ground and dodge Roman Candles aimed at the sky.
The organic celebrations are uncoordinated and unrehearsed, designed to allow families to stay close together for the festivities, several residents said.
“We’ve always done things together as a family,” said Oakland resident Aysha Franco. “It’s something deep for us. It comes from our culture. We really get into the spirit of things.”
The unsanctioned firework shows are illegal, but it doesn’t seem to stop any of the thousands of families from setting them off.
Last week, Oakland police seized more 3,000 pounds, or 1.71 tons, of illegal fireworks and arrested a Hayward man thought to be selling them. And, on Wednesday, a police helicopter flying above Oakland broadcast warnings to those below.
Oakland firefighters were also out circling the neighborhoods to make sure residents stayed safe, said Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief James Bowron. With hotter-than-usual temperatures early in the season, Bowron said the department was especially concerned about sparks catching fire in dry grasses or on rooftops, not to mention the possibility of fireworks exploding in people’s hands or faces.
“We try to take a community-based approach,” Bowron said. “If we come across large groups of people shooting off fireworks, we try to advise them it’s illegal, and we try to educate them on the danger of fireworks and the possibility of starting fires.”
It’s a concern shared by many. On the social networking site, Nextdoor.com, a Fruitvale resident asked neighbors for constructive ways to limit the number of M-80s launched at one particularly popular gathering spot near her house.
“They are set off so close to the street and PG&E lines, I fear the damage,” she wrote, though she didn’t find much support in the comments section, where she was told to mind her own business.
But that doesn’t mean those setting off fireworks weren’t being vigilant. Franco’s sister-in-law, Monica Franco, said they had a bucket of water on hand, just in case. In another part of the city, Oakland resident Eric Maldonado echoed the same sentiments.
“Safety is our No. 1 priority,” he said. “We don’t want to put anyone at risk.”
In the historically Hispanic Fruitvale neighborhood, the celebrations hearken to firework displays in Mexico and El Salvador, where many families have roots. And, in Oakland, that manifests as a melding of cultures.
For Franky Reyes and his family, that means hot links and hamburgers are paired with beers brewed in Mexico. There are conventional Fourth of July fireworks with Mexican music playing in the background.
“We have to be more American than the Americans and more Mexican than the Mexicans,” he said.
But, it also creates mixed feelings for residents who feel under siege from Trump Administration immigration policies.
“We’re afraid to step out,” Conny Barahona, an Oakland resident who hails from El Salvador, said in Spanish.
That’s all the more reason to celebrate together, said Francisco Sanchez. When people are afraid, that’s when community matters the most, he said.
“It’s about enjoying community and enjoying spending time with your family,” Sanchez said in Spanish. “It’s about staying united.”