Plum Canyon resident Lilly Chiang said Wednesday she’s filmed close to 100 incidents of illegal fireworks being set off over the past several years behind her backyard that overlooks Plum Canyon Park.
But an April 28 fireball that lit up the sky and sparked nearby brush was the proverbial last straw for Chiang and a handful of her neighbors.
In phone conversations Wednesday, several residents described how they met up after the L.A County Fire Department responded to the brief brush fire in the 18800 block of Annmae Place, near their homes overlooking Plum Canyon Park.
Luckily for the residents, the initial fire was reported right away at 9:36 p.m. by Chiang.
Firefighters were there three minutes later and there was nothing showing by that time, according to Kaitlyn Aldana of the L.A. County Fire Department, who said Wednesday the crew that arrived initially cancelled the call and any additional resources.
“So that’s how I got to meet (neighbor James Kilton) for the first time on (April 28). Then I found out there was another neighbor that was really concerned, just as me,” Chiang said, adding there were several who gathered in the park’s parking lot as the first responders came and then left. “So we kind of just got together because I mentioned to Jim I have tons of footage.”
Chiang said the incidents ramp up around the holidays throughout the year, which was another reason she finally came forward. They were worried about what’s around the corner for Independence Day.
Kilton, who was at City Hall on Tuesday for public comment during the Santa Clarita City Council meeting along with Chiang and J.R. Cacia, said Wednesday he was there because he’s called the SCV Sheriff’s Station about 50 times over fireworks in the past several years, offering to share his call logs with the City Council.
He couldn’t believe that, during his most recent call to the station about the fireworks, he was told by a deputy this was the first the station had heard about the problem, he said to the City Council on Tuesday.
Cacia, one of the handful of neighbors in the parking lot the night of the fire who also spoke at City Hall, said he had never been to a City Council meeting before and wanted to “lean in” to support his community, not be someone who “nitpicks” at problems.
But after the January wildfires, the threat became too close to home, literally, he said.
“I started to get involved when it became that gas bomb, basically, I really don’t know what else to call it,” Cacia said, referring to the April 28 incident caught on camera.
He understands “kids will be kids,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. However, he also recalled the fireworks being set off around their neighborhood park even while the Palisades Fire was still claiming homes and lives.
And after hearing the frustration from Chiang and Kilton, he expressed frustration in the response from an agency, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, that he not only supported but also was one that represented a big reason he moved his family to the area, he said.
Kilton shared doorbelll camera footage of a teen knocking on his door Tuesday night within about a half-hour of his comments at City Hall.
The teen, who has several friends behind him on e-bikes in the video, identifies himself and then says, “I’m sorry. Let me know when you’re home,” and then walks away.
He said the teen’s message, even though it sounded like an apology, felt confrontational. And some of the neighbors are already a little gun-shy about coming forward with concerns about the fireworks.
“To be quite honest, there’s a little bit of trust broken, I think, with the sheriff’s office as far as I‘m concerned,” Cacia said, “especially knowing what Lilly’s gone through and then James.”
After Tuesday’s meeting, Kilton said he spoke with Lt. Brandon Barclay, the acting captain for the SCV Sheriff’s Station, and he was encouraged by the conversation.
Barclay said in a phone interview Wednesday that he could not discuss any details from an ongoing investigation.
“I’m currently working with the Sheriff’s Department and feel confident about the progress we have made in the last 24 hours,” Kilton wrote in a follow-up text message Wednesday afternoon, adding he was scheduled to meet with a deputy whom Barclay had assigned to the incident.
