There's nothing quite like the Fourth of July in Los Angeles. If you're like me, you sit out on your roof when the sun goes down and watch as the city lights up with fireworks—from the kids on the street on the block below, to distant displays along the horizon.
And if you're like me, you've probably noticed a plane in the sky, or a helicopter, and wondered what it is they see. How does a city of millions look when covered in a blanket of exploding light?
First, it should be noted here that fireworks are very much illegal throughout Los Angeles. "It's definitely one of our most high-volume nights of the year," Margaret Stewart, spokesperson with the LAFD, told LAist. "We had 1,900 incidents or more, last night. Luckily, there was no loss of life, but we had two fireworks-related injuries [in the city of Los Angeles], and a fireworks-related fire."
With this in mind, the displays are on every year. Here's a collection of some videos captured on the night of the Fourth, showing us exactly what the spectacle looks like from above.
The ABC7 helicopter caught this stunning view of the fireworks:
A Reddit user landing at LAX shared this view of Los Angeles:
Photographer Kevin Greene filmed this magical time-lapse of the city shooting off fireworks:
Videographer Christopher Pritchard made this time-lapse of the magic with the towers of downtown squarely in view:
And here's a bonus video of the fireworks shot from a rooftop:
If you need any reason to love Los Angeles anymore, there you go.
