SAN DIEGO — Should certain bonfires be banned on San Diego beaches?
Under a current proposal, bonfires built outside of city-designated fire rings would - explicitly - not be permitted.
It's an issue that is now heating up as the city council gets ready to vote this October.
Backers of this ban contend that this is about public safety, as well as about clarifying the current rules on this issue, which are now vaguely worded in the municipal code.
This proposal would ban bonfires on the sandy part of San Diego city beaches, unless they're built inside designated city fire pits.
One exception: fires fueled by portable propane devices, which leave no embers and produce less smoke, would still be permitted outside of the city's fire rings.
Council member Joe LaCava first proposed the ban in May.
"Really letting public safety know that prioritizing beach bonfires is very important to us," LaCava told CBS 8, "because we have seen so many problems with public safety, coals being left out, people getting their feet burned."
Many beachgoers are backing the ban.
"Here, it's a family place and they have to keep it safe," said Agnieskza Melfi. "A beach experience has to be safe, has to be safe for everybody!"
"I understand that everybody wants to have a good time," added another beachgoer in La Jolla, "but for safety reasons it makes sense to have it in a more confined area so that you don't have anybody stepping on hot embers after the fact."
Many others are incensed over the possible ban outside of the fire rings.
"I think a little bonfire on the beach... that ain't nothing," said Chris Smedley. "People have been doing it for so long... why stop now?"
"I think it's a terrible idea," fumed Scripps Ranch resident Belinda Naylor, who has enjoyed bonfires with her friends for years. "We should be able to be responsible enough to have a little fire down here," she told CBS 8. "We do it probably once a month."
She said she believes it would make more sense, in place of an outright ban, to focus on educating the public about bonfire safety, "because I don't think people know not to dump the embers in the sand and that there are places to dump them."
Many San Diegans pointed out that city-designated fire pits are already at a premium.
"I think that if they had more pits out here, that would be the best solution," said SDSU student Victoria Finn.
LaCava said that that if the ban passes this fall, there would first be an 'education' period before any fines are handed out.
