With Karl the Fog providing a practical assist, the Fourth of July came and went uneventfully last Friday, and Bernal Hill survived the holiday unmolested by flames.
That’s not to say the Forces of Unsmartness stayed home for the holiday. On Saturday morning, Neigbor Valjoy discovered this sad tableau on Bernal Hill during the (completely awesome) Hillwide Cleanup organized by the Bernal GO Team.
As she aptly put it, “Fireworks + dry grass = what could possibly go wrong?”
*whew!*
PHOTO: Valjoy9
Bernalwood 
Perhaps the hill is not quite the tinderbox it is imagined to be.
I thought Ingleside was assigning a patrol car strickly to Bernal hill? Saw one roving patrol car before it even got dark, and before all the fireworks started. Hmmmmmmm.
There was definitely a pair of officers walking the hill for much of the evening.
I guess illegal fireworks and public pot smoking weren’t on their agenda that night.
Is it illegal to smoke pot in public?
It can be, as shown by last year’s brush fire. Looks like we got a little lucky this year.
Coming back to Bernal @ 10:30-11:00 Friday night I saw a group lighting fireworks on Bernal Heights Blvd, directly facing the dry brush on the other side of the traffic barrier.
What to do? There was no fire, just the potential for one, and I think a call to SFFD would have been futile as I’m sure they were quite busy at the time.
It all comes down to humidity. The higher the humidity, the lower the risk.
As usual, Bernal Heights was the equivalent of a war zone on July 4. The bombs bursting in air started around 9:00pm and the cacophony continued on almost to 3:00am. I’m amazed Bernal Hill didn’t become our Dresden. From what I saw Precita Park wasn’t spared either. What was the purpose of a “dedicated” patrol car roaming Bernal Heights Blvd? Were any arrests made, or were the cops acting simply as an expensive fire lookout?
Hyperbole much?