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Police and fire departments in West Sacramento focus on illegal use of fireworks

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Illegal fireworks are a top concern for police and fire departments across Northern California this holiday week. In West Sacramento, police and fire departments held an amnesty event for illegal fireworks on Wednesday. Anyone who turned in illegal fireworks received safe and sensible fireworks in return. “It’s important that the public helps us prevent dangerous situations,” said West Sacramento Police Lt. Jason Winger. “With the current temperatures and fire conditions, it is extremely dangerous to set off illegal fireworks.” He said many departments are doing more this year to be proactive in enforcement. “Many communities are trying to work together and in different ways to address the problem of illegal fireworks in the Sacramento area and California,” he said. One of those communities is Roseville. The city has increased the fine for the first warning for illegal fireworks to $750. Last year it was $100. Each additional illegal firework found will result in a $1,000 fine. So three illegal fireworks would cost more than $2,700. “If you are in possession of or setting off an illegal firework, it gets very expensive very quickly in Roseville,” said Megan Scheid, Roseville’s assistant city manager. “We want people to be safe in their neighborhoods and we hope this will be a deterrent.” Scheid said people can report illegal fireworks through the My Roseville app. They can share photos and videos that will be used to build a case against the person using illegal fireworks. Roseville police said they will be adding extra patrols whose sole focus will be illegal fireworks enforcement. With the heightened fire risk this week, Winger hopes people will be cautious on the Fourth of July. “We’re asking the community to be very cautious and use safe and sensible fireworks themselves under the current conditions, not to mention illegal fireworks. Our resources are very limited. There are fires all over Northern California right now,” Winder said. Winger recommends calling your local police non-emergency number or using the local online reporting system to report illegal fireworks. If public safety is a concern, call 911. A list of legal fireworks shows for the Fourth of July can be found here. For more coverage of California’s top stories, click here | Download our app.

WEST SACRAMENTO, California —

Illegal fireworks are a major problem for police and fire departments throughout Northern California this holiday week.

In West Sacramento, police and fire departments held an amnesty event for illegal fireworks on Wednesday. Anyone who turned in illegal fireworks received safe and sensible fireworks in exchange.

“It is important that the public helps us prevent dangerous situations,” said Lt. Jason Winger of the West Sacramento Police Department. “With the current temperatures and fire conditions, it is extremely dangerous to set off illegal fireworks.”

He said many departments are doing more this year to be more proactive in enforcement.

“There are many communities trying to work together in different ways to address the problem of illegal fireworks in the Sacramento area and California,” he said.

One of these communities is Roseville. The city has increased the fine for a first warning for illegal fireworks to $750. Last year it was $100.

Each additional illegal firework found will result in a $1,000 fine, so three illegal fireworks would cost more than $2,700.

“If you are in possession of an illegal firework or you set one off, it gets very expensive very quickly in Roseville,” said Megan Scheid, Roseville’s deputy city manager. “We want people to be safe in their neighborhoods and we hope this will act as a deterrent.”

Scheid said that people can report illegal fireworks through the My Roseville app. People can share photos and videos that will then be used to file charges against the person using illegal fireworks.

Roseville police said they would deploy additional patrols whose sole focus would be to combat illegal fireworks.

With the increased fire danger this week, Winger hopes people will be cautious on July 4.

“We ask the public to be very cautious and to use even safe and sensible fireworks under the current conditions, not to mention illegal fireworks. Our resources are very limited. There are fires all over Northern California right now,” Winder said.

Winger recommends calling the local police non-emergency number or using the local online reporting system to report illegal fireworks. If public safety is a concern, call 911.

A list of legal 4th of July fireworks can be found here.

You can find more reports on the most important topics from California here | Download our app.

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