Besides a small brush fire, a couple of lost and found kids and about a million people at the beaches through the weekend, Independence Day celebrations went off without major incident, according to police.
Some kids playing with fireworks started a quarter-acre brush fire Friday, July 4, at about noon near the tennis courts in Standley Park in University City, San Diego Fire and Rescue officials said.
It took two engines and a helicopter about 25 minutes to squelch the one-alarm fire that burned through part of the canyon there, according to Lee Swanson, Fire and Rescue spokesman.
“We called several units out but we called most of them back fairly quickly,” he said.
Aside from the fire and a couple of lost children at the beach “”all of whom were reunited with parents ” this year’s Independence Day celebration at the beaches brought showers of praise over the continued family-friendly atmosphere around the beach since institution of the temporary law banning booze, police officials said.
There was less crime and less trash compared to last year, officials said.
Despite a “small fraction” of instances of people breaking the law by sneaking alcohol onto the beach or a few individuals rafting with a beer in Sail Bay, the weekend went “great,” Northern Division Capt. Shelley Zimmerman said.
“We expected most people to comply with the law and that’s what they did,” she said.
Even with close to 1 million people who flocked to La Jolla Shores, Pacific, Ocean and Mission beaches and Mission Bay, statistics from the San Diego Police Department note the number of detentions for public intoxication at the beach declined by almost 70 percent from last year.
Police also set up a DUI checkpoint in the beach area Thursday, July 3, Zimmerman said. About 40 vehicles were impounded over the weekend, which is down from about 98 last year, according to the report.
Also down from last year is the amount of trash picked up from the beach areas during the Morning After Mess beach cleanup on July 5, according to Bill Hickman, San Diego chapter coordinator of the Surfrider Foundation.
“We were pleasantly surprised at the lack of trash,” he said.
With help from Sun Diego Boardshops, the Surfrider Foundation coordinated beach clean-ups at six sites, including Pacific Beach Drive, Ocean Beach and the Oceanside Pier, among others, he said.
About 1,000 people from nonprofit organizations including San Diego Coastkeeper, Freepb.org, and I Love a Clean San Diego came out to help the morning after the celebrations. This is the first year the nonprofits teamed up under the banner CleanBeachCoalition.org.
Several factors may have contributed to the volunteers gathering and chucking 4,000 pounds of trash found mostly along the sidewalks, as opposed to last year’s 9,000 pounds found strewn about the coast, he said.
Increased awareness of the pollution problem, more trash and recycling receptacles near busy areas, and less alcohol packaging all contributed to a reduced amount of litter lying along the lip of the shore.
Beach-area businesses liked the atmosphere at the beaches as well, according to San Diego Police Detective Gary Hassen.
“San Diego is one of the premiere tourist destinations in America, and people came down and enjoyed it,” he said.
Michael Katz, owner of the Surfer Beach Hotel, 711 Pacific Beach Drive, said his business has increased since the start of the alcohol ban.
Joined by District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, Katz and other community members spoke at a press conference held July 3 by the grassroots community organization Safe Beaches.
“Instead of negative feedback regarding the safety of their kids from families staying down at the beach, we’re getting positive feedback.” Katz said.