The morning after the storm

Sue Doyle

NEWPORT BEACH -- Bleary-eyed residents woke Wednesday morning after an

outlandish Fourth of July celebration to find their West Newport Beach

streets cluttered with cans, bottles and other trash.

The stench of garbage hung in the air as clusters of residents armed

with big mugs of coffee ventured outside to check the damage.

Friends tag-teamed the cleanup effort, sweeping up debris, spraying

down sidewalks and wiping windows.

Randy Basile munched on some cereal and watched his 45th Street

neighbors hit the pavement with brooms.

He pointed to bits of Styrofoam that clung to the gutter in a pool of

water and said it was once a stuffed animal.

“Someone put an M-1000 [firecracker] inside the stuffed animal,”

Basile said, “and blew it to bits. It looked like snow when it burst.”

Street sweepers combed the pavement at least two times, collecting

trash that many residents simply swept into the road. Some were reported

to authorities for not bagging their garbage.

By day’s end, 220 tons of trash will be hauled from the peninsula --

an accumulation of just one week’s collection plus an estimated five to

10 tons of beer cans and bottles from Tuesday, said Dave Niederhaus,

Newport Beach’s general services director. He compared the trash

collection to having 10 tractor-trailer loads come out of the area.

“I think every homeowner should clean up their area by a certain

time,” said Judy Milne, a new homeowner, as she tiptoed through some

broken bottles. “I don’t think the city should pay for this.”

It was the first Fourth of July celebration at the Milne’s new home --

and one they’ll never forget.

Even seasoned vacationers, such as Gary and Karen Barnes, had some

crazy memories from Tuesday. The Yucaipa residents traditionally come to

town and rent a house for two weeks over the Fourth of July weekend.

The Barneses know anything can happen, but were shocked when a few

random people sauntered into their rented house, used the bathroom and

left without saying a word.

“It was funny,” said Gary Barnes. “That’s why we come here. And we’ll

come back next year, too.”