Illegal July 4 fireworks set fire to Sacramento backyards, prompt at least 60 citations
SACRAMENTO -- The busiest night of the year for first responders, the Fourth of July, is now behind us, but work is only just beginning for some residents left to pay the price for someone else's fireworks celebration.
In a south Natomas neighborhood along River Run Circle, the backyard of several homes caught fire as illegal fireworks were being shot into the sky one after the other on the Fourth.
The fire took out a fence spanning multiple of their properties and got dangerously close to homes.
"I'm very, very upset with people's carelessness," said neighbor Danny Henderson.
He rushed in with a water hose that night to try and stop the flames from spreading to the homes just feet away.
"I just thank God that I was able to put it out as much as I could to hold the fire for 25 minutes until the crews got here," Henderson said.
Most of the damage was at his neighbor Mary Guillory's home.
"I went to sleep and they were still popping firecrackers," said Guillory, 86.
She woke up July 5 to thousands of dollars in damage, a large portion of her fence burned and a tall tree above that caught fire.
"I'm a senior. I'm on a fixed income," Guillory said. "I'm very disappointed."
Also left to foot the bill is next-door neighbor Nicole Schaefer. A smaller part of her fence burned, too.
"People are bringing in these big fireworks, these illegal fireworks. They are shooting them off without regard for anyone else. All of our houses could have gone up. Somebody could have died," said Schaefer, grateful the outcome was not worse.
These neighbors say enough is enough. They feel that the illegal fireworks in Natomas have only gotten worse each year.
The Sacramento Fire Department said that of the 434 emergency calls they responded to on July 4, 188 were fire calls.
"At one point, we were down to just three available units in the county because we were responding to so many different calls," said Capt. Justin Sylvia, spokesperson for Sacramento Fire.
Across all of Sacramento County, calls to 911 were up 45% compared to last July 4.
"We did have structure fires. We did have a ton of grass fires. It's unfortunate people aren't getting the message that they are illegal," Sylvia said. "They need to stop. Look at our conditions right now. We've been over 100 degrees for the past week. All that does is dry this fuel out even more. It makes it that much more prime to burn."
Sacramento Fire even had its prevention team out in unmarked cars driving neighborhoods, watching and waiting for illegal fireworks.
"They collect video evidence and photos. With that they go back, compile all of that and start issuing citations via mail," Sylvia said.
Sylvia says the department expects to send out at least 60 citations soon for illegal fireworks. The fines range from $1,000 on the first offense up to $5,000.
"Use your head. You shouldn't blow off fireworks when it's 110 degrees outside. Common sense isn't so common," Schaefer said.
Sacramento Fire hopes the damage and their citations are a not-so-subtle reminder for next year: that lighting off any fireworks in Sacramento that shoot into the air or explode is illegal and dangerous.
