Sacramento County illegal fireworks tip line failed this Fourth of July, report says
SACRAMENTO — A new report is out showing Sacramento County is failing to go after everyone setting off illegal Fourth of July fireworks and a tip line used to report offenders was not even working.
Sacramento Metro Fire responded to 160 blazes over the holiday this year – a 48% increase over last year – and eight people were injured by illegal fireworks.
"It's very frustrating," said county homeowner Lee Miller.
Miller is tired of seeing the bottle rockets and firecrackers in her neighborhood.
"It was one of the worst years," she said. "It's gotten worse."
County officials are now admitting that an email tipline that people were using to report illegal fireworks was not working.
"There were 778 complaints to that email," said Barry Chamberlain, the chief of Sacramento County Code Enforcement.
Chamberlain said the email was an old account that was not being monitored – and the tips went nowhere.
"I've worked with the sheriff's department. They've gotten rid of it," he said.
"I was pretty upset about that," Miller said. "It kind of makes them look silly as if they don't know what they're doing."
This year, Sacramento County also began using a new ordinance to stop illegal fireworks. When someone is seen using them, a ticket can be sent to the property owner in the mail.
However, out of more than 1,500 fireworks complaints, only eight cases are being pursued. So why aren't there more illegal fireworks citations?
"The complaints had to be witnessed by law enforcement," said Kim Nava, a spokesperson for the county.
Fire officials say many of the tips were just too vague.
"Specifically, people not providing contact information or actionable location," said Fire Marshal Barbie Law with Metro Fire. "So the complaint was so broad, we're not even sure where to go."
"It does not seem as though the sheriff's department nor Metro Fire are being very serious about this," Miller said.
County officials are now saying they will take a look at making changes for next year.
"They're definitely lessons learned and things that we'll probably do differently," Chamberlain said.
Sacramento County is using the tips to compile a list of suspected offenders and will be mailing them a letter ahead of New Year's Eve warning them not to set off illegal fireworks.
Sacramento County says the correct email to report illegal firework activity is reportfireworks@saccounty.gov.
