Scheafer will work to phase out fireworks

Deirdre Newman

A fireworks-related fire that severely burned a neighbor of

Councilman Mike Scheafer has motivated him to reconsider his support

for selling the explosives.

Before the holiday, Scheafer adamantly supported selling

fireworks. As a member of the Lions Club, he has helped sell them for

the past three years.

His neighbor Adelaide Thiel suffered severe burns after a sparkler

she lighted ignited her clothes on the Fourth of July. She underwent

her third skin graft operation Tuesday. Her chance of survival at the

time of the accident was 50%, but is higher now, her husband, Jerry,

said.

Scheafer said he is having second thoughts for a few reasons: his

neighbor’s experience; his experience as a State Farm Insurance agent

dealing with clients who have had fireworks-related fires; and the

proliferation of groups selling fireworks over the past few years.

His solution is to eventually phase out the sale of fireworks in

the city and, in the meantime, limit the number of groups who can

sell them. During the suggested phaseout, Scheafer said the groups

who rely on selling fireworks need to find other outlets to make

money.

“We invited groups to raise money at the Fish Fry, for example,

and we only had a couple who took us up on the offer,” Scheafer said.

After watching the fireworks extravaganza in Newport Beach with

some family members on the Fourth of July, the Thiels returned to

their home on California Street with some leftover safe-and-sane

fireworks from their family celebration.

Adelaide Thiel, a retired claims adjustor, proceeded to light some

sparklers on her porch, and her polyester skirt caught fire. By the

time Jerry Thiel came to the rescue, she had severe burns all over

her body.

She has been at UCI Medical Center since the accident and is in

fair condition. Jerry Thiels said he saw her on Sunday and she was in

good spirits.

“My prayers have been answered,” said her husband of 26 years.

“Faith had a lot to do with it, and I’m not a religious person.”

Jerry Thiel was also burned on both of his arms during the

incident. He has just regained the use of his hands. He still has a

bandage on his right arm.

Costa Mesa is one of only five cities in the county that permits

the sale of fireworks. This Fourth of July, there were about five

fireworks-related fires, but only Adelaide Thiel’s involved a person,

said Gregg Steward, battalion chief with the Costa Mesa Fire

Department. The rest were trash and tree fires.

As an insurance agent, Scheafer has dealt firsthand with the

devastating effects of fireworks. In the past, a house belonging to

one of his clients almost burned down from an illegal bottle rocket,

he said.

But that hasn’t deterred him from enthusiastically supporting the

sale of fireworks over the past few years. In a phone interview

before the Fourth of July, Scheafer said he supported selling them

because of the money raised for various groups.

Now, Scheafer says he will talk to Fire Department officials and

city staff who can help him design a plan for the full City Council

to consider that would eventually eliminate fireworks.

“We need direction about how we can get alternatives or events or

things where they can raise the funds to support the groups,”

Scheafer said.

After his family’s ordeal, Jerry Thiel said he also supports

banning fireworks sales in the city.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].