Update: Newport Councilwoman Changes Stance on Fire Ring Ban

Councilwoman Leslie Daigle supported ousting the fire rings when the Newport Beach City Council voted on the heated matter last year, but on Wednesday she announced she now wants the fire rings to stay right where they are.

Daigle said going forward she will urge the City Council to drop any action to restrict the use of fire rings, calling them "a significant part of our history and beach tradition."

"The fire ring examination has revealed to me an overwhelming love and respect for this outdoor tradition that I didn't fully appreciate when we began our public policy review," Daigle said in a released statement. "As emotional as this review has been, I believe it has helped the public and its representatives better understand the possible health risks associated with this time-honored ritual."   

The potential health risks from the fire rings are "modest and avoidable," according to Daigle's statement, and only impact a small portion of the Newport Beach population.

"They can be mitigated by staying away from the beach or, if you're lucky enough to live at our beaches, closing your front windows at night," Daigle said.  "Basically, beach users and beach livers are capable of assessing the risk and deciding what, if anything, to do."

Last week Newport Beach officials said the city would work with the South Coast Air Quality Management District to install five non-wood burning fire rings at Big Corona Beach and five at the Balboa Pier area to help preserve the tradition of beach fires.

Daigle said she will vote no on the proposal, calling it "lame and dangerous."

"Propane cylinders containing explosive and lethal fuel would connect to metal tubing snaking around the sand," Daigle explained. "Firefighters tell me of the danger of invisible gas seeping from sun-cracked hoses."     

In response to Daigle's announcement of support for the fire rings, Mayor Keith Curry called the councilwoman "neither liberal or conservative," but "simply transactional." 

"In her misguided effort to run for partisan office, she has flipped-flopped on fire rings having supporting the ban for nearly a year now, in order to try to enhance her electability," Curry wrote in an email. "She apparently does not believe the health impacts as identified by the AQMD are important to the residents who live near the beach." 

Daigle said she intends "to keep hammering his proposal," referencing the plan to install the non-wood burning fire rings in Newport Beach.

In March 2012 the City Council voted to get rid of the 27 fire rings at Big Corona Beach and the 33 fire rings near the Balboa Pier. The city was then required to submit an application to the California Coastal Commission requesting permission to uninstall its fire pits. The application is scheduled to be reviewed by the commission in July.

The AQMD began working on plan in March to ban beach fire pits because of the unhealthful impact to the air quality in surrounding cities, but on Friday announced potential changes that could allow cities to decide how to proceed with the fire pits.

A public meeting regarding the fire ring debate is scheduled for Thursday, June 13 at 5:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach.

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