SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With less than a week to go until the Fourth of July holiday, many Sacramento neighborhoods have already heard illegal fireworks going off.
The crackdown on those illegal fireworks has started as well.
The Sacramento Fire Department is asking the community to report illegal fireworks after it launched a new mobile app to make that fight easier.
"It's a problem we see every year,” said Sacramento Fire Captain Justin Sylvia. “It’s in all neighborhoods. And we know this, we recognize this."
Captain Sylvia says in the past they have used a mobile app from another company, but their new app is curated to Sacramento Fire. The free reporting app is monitored by the Sacramento Fire Prevention Bureau.
If you want to report illegal fireworks download the app titled “Sacramento Fire,” click on the report fireworks icon, fill out a series of questions including an address and upload a photo or video.
“If we have members of the public that come forward, they can take pictures. We can use those pictures and or video to go out and cite these people," said Captain Sylvia.
Sylvia says, on average, Sacramento Fire responds to 85 fire calls on July 4. In 2021 and 2022, there have been more than 10 of those calls each year caused directly by fireworks. Last year, Sylvia said they issued 45 tickets in the first four days of July for illegal fireworks, totaling $50,000 in fines.
"Our biggest concern this year is we have had a ton of rainfall, which means we have had a ton of growth,” said Sylvia. “And all that growth with these hot temperatures is starting to dry out or is dried out. And with that there are a lot more flammable and combustible materials around, so once these fireworks throw a spark into an empty field up against the house, now we have a huge problem."
Sacramento homeowners can also report illegal fireworks by calling the fire department's non-emergency, 916-808-3473 (FIRE).
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