The city of Santa Clarita is excited to announce the annual Spirit of America Fireworks Spectacular will take place this Fourth of July. The fireworks will light up the sky from the launch site near the corner of Magic Mountain Parkway and Citrus Street at approximately 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, 2020.

“It was important for the City to provide the firework show to our residents,” said Mayor Cameron Smyth. “With all the events, milestones and celebrations that have been canceled over the last few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to ensure that our community was still able to mark this patriotic holiday.”

This year’s show will be a non-traditional firework display with several new restrictions in place. The Los Angeles County Health Officer Orders, which are in effect to slow the spread of COVID-19, still restrict public gatherings. Therefore, residents are encouraged to view the display from their vehicles or virtually via Facebook livestream in the comfort of their homes. Make sure your radio is tuned to KHTS, Your Hometown Station on 98.1 FM and 1220 AM. You will be able to hear a special introduction to the fireworks as well as music synchronized to the impressive display.

To prevent large public gatherings, Westfield Valencia Town Center will be closed to vehicle parking and in-person fireworks viewers. There will also be no vehicle parking or in-person viewing on the streets and parkways surrounding the Town Center. Due to the limited viewing area, the show will be livestreamed on the city of Santa Clarita’s Facebook page and Channel 20 SCVTV.

“Although we would like to gather with family and friends as we normally do on the Fourth of July to enjoy the fireworks show, this year will be different to help maintain the health and safety of our community,” said Smyth.

Citrus Street will be closed beginning at 3:00 a.m. on the morning of July 4. In addition, a portion of the Town Center parking lot will also be blocked off for the firework fall zone. All other roads in the area will remain open to traffic, and “no parking” zones will remain in effect and be enforced by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Residents are also reminded that all fireworks are illegal to possess in Santa Clarita. Fireworks are a violation of the Santa Clarita Municipal Code, Health and Safety Code and Los Angeles County Fire Code.

“During these days leading up to the Fourth of July, we regularly see an increase in illegal fireworks use,” said Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Captain Justin Diez. “We are once again using the City’s Illegal Fireworks tracking system to find the hot spots of use so we can increase our proactive patrols in those areas.”

Through the “Illegal Fireworks” category in the City’s Resident Service Center (RSC), residents can report locations that have been problem areas for illegal fireworks in past years. This information will be automatically transmitted to the Sheriff’s Department so they can enter it into their database and know where they should focus their patrols. This information gathered will be used to “predictively” map out problem areas of concern for law enforcement efforts. Reporting illegal fireworks through RSC will NOT result in an immediate response from the Sheriff’s Department. The Resident Service Center is accessible on the City’s website and through the Santa Clarita Mobile App. The public can also report illegal fireworks activity to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at (661) 255-1121 (non-emergency). Please do not call 911 to report as those lines need to be kept open for life and death emergency needs.

The loud noises emitted from fireworks can cause stress and trauma to our proud veterans. Animal shelters also report that more pets run away on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year because of stress caused by the sounds. In addition, the risk for wildfires sparked by fireworks is heightened as our hillsides are currently covered with dry vegetation as we enter the hot summer season.

“We have already experienced several brush fires throughout the county this month that were sparked by illegal firework use,” said Assistant Fire Chief Anderson Mackey. “After last year’s devastating Tick Fire that caused the largest evacuation in Santa Clarita’s history, we ask residents to help protect our community by not setting off illegal fireworks.”

For more information on illegal firework use in Santa Clarita, pet safety and additional resources, please visit Santa-Clarita.com/Fireworks.