The U.S. Independence Day celebrations in Southern California turned into a noisy night that got out of hand, after gatherings in several areas exploded with riots, mass brawls, and fires caused by illegal fireworks, and the scene ended with hundreds of people arrested and others injured.

Newport Beach saw the worst riots on the occasion of the Fourth of July celebrations, as Independence Day revelers flocked to Orange County, causing traffic jams and prompting police to intervene as unrest escalated near the pier.

Police arrest at least 400 people

Hundreds of people surrounded the police, throwing bottles and other projectiles at them, before the crowd turned into a clash with each other. The police marched on horseback to the crowds to disperse them and carried out a record campaign of arrests of more than 400 people in 36 hours.

Video from the scene showed what appeared to be the aftermath of a looting at the Pavilions grocery store in Newport Beach, where merchandise was strewn in the parking lot, while groups of people remained outside the store laughing and joking. Many of those involved in the riot also appeared to be not Newport Beach residents.

Several people were injured in Chino after fireworks exploded too low to the ground, while a large number of people gathered on a street to watch the festivities, and across Los Angeles, fire crews responded to several fires.

Woman killed, man injured with banned explosives

In other parts of Southern California, illegal fireworks have caused real tragedies, with a woman losing her life in Chino after a powerful explosion and a man critically injured in Wilmington from the use of banned commercial explosives.

More than 60 firefighters were involved in extinguishing a fire inside a commercial building in the 14300 block of Figueroa Avenue in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood, after the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) received a report at 9:49 p.m.

Another fire broke out shortly after 9 p.m. in the 15200 block of Tuba Avenue in Mission Hills, where several cypress trees caught fire inside a residential neighborhood.

The fire threatened nearby homes and spread to two vehicles before firefighters were able to prevent them from reaching any homes, and no injuries were reported. The causes of the fires are still under investigation, and authorities have not ruled out fireworks as a possible cause of the fires.