Fourth passes without hassle

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa observed a mostly trouble-free Fourth of July on Friday, although Newport police made more arrests than last year and Costa Mesa responders battled a residential fire that apparently resulted from improperly extinguished fireworks.

Lt. Rob Morton of the Newport Beach Police Department reported about 140 arrests in the city, slightly up from 118 a year ago. He said, though, that the arrests were mostly for public drunkenness, fireworks violations and other minor offenses. Morton added that Newport Beach experienced larger crowds than usual, possibly because high gas prices were keeping so many at home.

“All in all, it was real good,” Morton said. “It was big crowds, but most were well-behaved. It was a good Fourth for us.”

Sgt. John Whitman of the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol also said the crowds were thicker than usual in Newport Harbor, but chalked that up less to gas prices than to the fact that the holiday fell on a Friday.

“People don’t have to work the next day, so you’re typically going to get a bigger crowd,” he said.

In Costa Mesa, police responded to eight fireworks-related calls between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. and later issued nine citations for parking and fireworks offenses and made two fireworks-related arrests, Sgt. Clint Dieball said.

The main trouble overnight occurred when a fire broke out about 2:30 a.m. at a residence in the 3000 block of Ceylon Road. Costa Mesa police and fire crews responded to the ensuing blaze, which damaged part of the owner’s home as well as the side of the house next door.

Dieball said he believed the fire had been started by a trash can full of fireworks that had been insufficiently extinguished, but Battalion Chief Kevin Diamond of the Costa Mesa Fire Department said the incident was still under investigation.

The homeowner, reached Saturday, declined to comment or give his name.

With the weekend ahead, Morton said extra units had been deployed in Newport Beach. Costa Mesa Sgt. Stephanie Selinske said her department had not increased personnel.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].