Holiday Fireworks Bloom and Boom Over Lake Murray on Gorgeous Night

Armed with with tents, blankets, lawn chairs and barbecues, La Mesans and residents of a city to the west crowded the shores and highways overlooking Lake Murray on the Fourth of July for a 342-shell sky show that lasted 18 minutes, including a brief encore. 

Monday night’s entertainment came amid concerns for future shows—in light of pending litigation over the need for environmental reviews. The lawsuit by Marco Gonzalez of Encinitas and his Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation handicapped fundraising and led event organizers to cancel the annual music festival before the sky show. 

But residents took the absence in stride, bringing their own music and behaving as mild as the weather. A little after midnight, a La Mesa police dispatcher said the city had a “pretty quiet night.”