Playing with fire: With weather hot, hills dry, an illegal firework could spark a costly blaze

ONE SEEMINGLY INNOCENT and pretty sparkler handed to a child is all it takes to set a Bay Area hillside ablaze within minutes.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District demonstrated that Thursday in the parking lot of the Concord Pavilion. With the county’s wildland fire crew standing by, a firefighter lit a sparkler and dropped it on at least two spots in a small patch of hillside brush.