Booms and explosions could be heard across Orange County on Saturday night after a large cache of fireworks, including Roman candles, were lit off in an industrial area in Santa Ana.
The pyrotechnic blasts were illegal, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said. The fireworks, which Santa Ana police said were set off in the 400 block of West Central Avenue, were seen or heard as far away as Huntington Beach and Aliso Viejo.
“I thought I was hearing artillery fire and/or Godzilla’s footsteps,” one person wrote on Reddit.
“Whoa I’m in HB and this is wild. It was louder than the air show… I saw what looked like fireworks in the sky tho?” wrote another.
No injuries were reported.
A 5-minute video shared on YouTube titled “Pyromaniac Takeover” showed a group of people lighting off several different devices on an empty street before a flurry of fireworks burst into the sky, followed by thick plumes of white smoke and a series of bangs, booms, and whistles.
The video was removed on Sunday. But another one could be seen on TikTok.
Another video recorded in the area and posted on X shows remnants of leftover fireworks, smoke, and small fires lining a street in Santa Ana. The driver filming the video appears to be caught up in the blast after a firework erupts right next to his car.
random huge fireworks were going off in #OrangeCounty CA and I decided to find the origin of it and stupidly drove through it pic.twitter.com/fKsqBFsqZw
— James Lee (@jlsupreme) October 22, 2023
At least 40 people gathered in the area to watch what appeared to be an orchestrated, illegal fireworks show, a security guard at the cannabis dispensary 420 Central said. Several food trucks stationed next door had their windows shattered from the shockwaves.
Tensions grew after police arrived around 11:30 p.m. and chased a car out of the area. Afterward, the security guard said, several people started throwing fireworks at him and said fireballs were going off in his direction. He asked to remain anonymous out of safety concerns.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad recovered several packages deemed to be explosives from the scene. But no arrests were made, as the crowd dispersed once officers arrived and no one came forward as a victim to press charges, Santa Ana Police Officer Natalie Garcia said.
