SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Fourth of July is always a busy night for fire crews, but July 4, 2021 proved to be especially active as more calls were received than in 2020 for Sacramento City Fire Department, despite some new rules put into place.
"It was going off like rockets, all night," said McKinley Village resident Stacey Wigglesworth.
Late-night fireworks and a lack of sleep from them is a sentiment coming from many residents of all neighborhoods in Sacramento and surrounding cities.
It's also reflected in Sacramento City Fire Department's call center; they received around 1,500 reports of illegal fireworks activity between 6 p.m. and midnight this Fourth of July, according to Lieutenant Keith Wade.
"(The illegal fireworks call center) was overwhelmed," Lt. Wade said. "Along with those calls, the prevention team that was going out to enforce issued citations over the last three days [gave out] upwards of about $200,000 worth of citations, and last night, 87 citations alone (were issued) which equals about $87,000 worth."
It was an incredibly busy night for fire crews despite some cities launching new ordinances that outlaw fireworks at cut-off times, in an attempt to curb unsafe and late-night fireworks. Ordinances in Sacramento and Folsom demand fireworks ended at midnight on the Fourth. In Citrus Heights, the cut off is 11PM on July 5.
But for residents like Wigglesworth, who noted how many illegal fireworks she saw, it's not the noise that's alarming.
"I'm more concerned about fires than the loudness of it," she said.
Thankfully, Sunday's weather played a positive role, according to Lt. Wade. He said there could have been a lot more damage in the city if they had a different weather system present during the holiday.
He credits increased humidity levels and no significant wind to likely lowering the amount of fire damage. But for coming years, if new rules and fines don't help in fire safety measures, it begs the question, 'What will?'
"It's sad to see people lose their belongings when you know it's avoidable," Lt. Wade said.
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