San Diego fire pits: Are they going up in smoke?

Yahoo

13-05-2025

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The sound of a fire crackling, buffeted by windy ocean spray is a luxury that might be a thing of the past in the time of San Diego austerity, as the mayor and city council race to trim $258 million from the budget.
Supporters of fire pits say the $135,000 savings for scrapping San Diego's fire rings is out of line with what the city is.
'That is why people come to San Diego is to have that beach culture experience, catching a wave during the day, having a beach bonfire at night, that's what makes San Diego,' said Richard Bailey, a Mission Beach business owner and former Coronado Mayor.
Business owners say the fire pits keep the atmosphere alive well after dark.
The Mission Beach Town Council on the other hand says for them cutting the fire pits makes sense financially and it cleans up a problem they've been trying to fix anyway.
'The reason I feel the fire pits are a no brainer is because San Diego has the eighth worse ozone pollution in the nation. It's surprising to everybody I tell, and when they find out, 'God we are this polluted what can we do?' Eliminate 184 fire pits,' said Gary Katz, a member of the Ocean Beach Town Council.
Locals who live in South Mission Beach say people burn couches, trash and even scooters in the fire pits and the smoke blows right into their homes.
'There's an L shape, so they are up the beach this way and then down the parking lot to the east, so no matter which way the wind blows, there is a 99% chance we are going to get a lot of smoke,' said Marty Zimmerman, a Mission Beach resident.
The fire pits are currently cut from the draft budget so it will take the city council to save the beach fires.
'I would hope they would keep it, regardless of the cost, it benefits the people that live here the most,' said Kelvin Dean, who was born and raised in San Diego.
The final budget will be submitted by June 10.
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