Fire Chief John Dear said one of the biggest headaches this year was the fireworks stands themselves.

"I visited them all and made sure they were in compliance with our ordinance, and the state fire marshal inspected them as well," Dear said. "We found some deficiencies and gave them time to comply."

The chief said he received complaints about after-hour sales at some of the stands.

"So, I made a third trip out to remind them of the hours of operation in the ordinance, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.," he said. "One individual was determined to sell until midnight, so I made him a copy of our ordinance. The issue ended in a confrontation and us shutting down his stand."

Dear said the reason he gave for selling after 10 p.m. was that he had to make up for the $2,000 in fireworks he donated to the town.

"Excuse me? What was that?," asked councilor Nancy Burge.

Dear reiterated that the seller claimed he had donated fireworks to the town for a Fourth of July display. The reaction from the mayor and council indicated that there was no such donation.

Mayor Bryan Olguin said the town is following up on the issue.

"I have spoken to him, and he denies he said that," Olguin said. "He will be issued a summons. There are things to go over in the ordinance, including the number of stands."

There were six fireworks stands in Peralta this year.

Before permits are issued next year to the fireworks stands, Dear recommended the council look at some changes to the ordinance and require a visit to their site to make sure the plan complies with the ordinance.

Clerk Arturo Sais said he visited all six stands, and there was one individual who asked what the fine was for selling after hours.

"He wanted to stay open to midnight on Friday and Saturday. I told him it was a $500 fine. He said it might be worth it, since he could make $1,500 or $2,000 in that time," Sais said. "So we did have somebody inquire and it looks like he did test the waters."

Olguin said if the seller is found guilty of violating the ordinance, there is also a two-year suspension.

Peralta resident Valerie Salim-Meza said over the holiday weekend her neighbors were setting off fireworks and the debris was falling on her, her husband and their guests in their backyard and on their roof.

"I called dispatch to send out an officer and was told by dispatch that there was nothing to enforce since there was no ordinance," Salim-Meza said. "Well, we do have one. There are probably several ordinances we have that dispatch isn't aware of."

Sais said he has talked with County Fire Chief Charles Eaton and he is aware of the town's ordinance.

Municipal Judge David Young said Salim-Meza made a very good point.

"There are issues of communication with Valencia County. I think the issue is they are not communicating inside the county," Young said. "We're working on it."

Mitzi Whalen said she spent the night of the Fourth making sure the paper debris from the fireworks falling on her property and animals wasn't still on fire.

"And it wasn't just the Fourth, but days before and still," Whalen said.

Burge asked if the town's ordinance placed limitations on the height of the fireworks or any other similar limits.

Dear said the ordinance is modeled after the state's ordinance concerning the types of fireworks allowed in the town. Olguin said as far as he knew, the only kind of fireworks allowed in Peralta that are not allowed in neighboring municipalities were the mortar round types.

The fire chief said the ordinance does say that the person shooting off the fireworks is responsible for the safe use and they are responsible for any damage.

"If their neighbor's horse runs into a fence and gets cut up, they are responsible," Dear said.

"But by then, it's too late," Burge said. "People forget what goes up must come down."

Dear agreed, saying the level of responsibility varies from person to person.

"You can't regulate stupidity," he said.

Burge said she would like to see the councilors revisit the fireworks ordinance while this is all still fresh in their minds.

Dear reminded the councilors that each entity in the county has a fireworks ordinance and they are all different.

"For years now, I've been saying that we should come together and come up with a uniform ordinance," Dear said.

Burge requested that the town get copies of all the ordinances within the county and review them. Young asked that the council might want to give some thought as to who can issue citations, suggesting firefighters in addition to police officers.

"We have an ordinance, and if it had been enforced I think a lot of these problems would go away," said councilor Joseph Romero. "There are probably a lot of our ordinances not being enforced."