Increased police and fire department staffing, road closures – NBC Bay Area

To ensure people’s safety during the Fourth of July holiday, police increased patrols and temporarily closed off high-traffic areas in Oakland.

The additional security presence comes as OPD expects large crowds to visit Lake Merritt over the holiday weekend. It is also in response to the mass shooting that occurred at the lake on June 19.

OPD hopes the road closures will limit the amount of fairground activities and illegal fireworks and help keep everyone safe.

To prevent fires from breaking out, major roads in the Oakland Hills, including Grizzly Peak, were closed to traffic.

Select Oakland fire stations also set up bins for people to throw fireworks into. On Wednesday night alone, OPD delivered at least three tons of fireworks after seizing illegal pyrotechnics.

“The embers that are created when a firework rocket goes up in the air. We’ve had many, many fires over the years, especially on the Fourth of July, that have been attributed to fireworks, so it’s imperative that our citizens pay attention to their safety and hopefully not use them,” said Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief Frank Tijiboy.

Various departments, including the Building Department, Fire Department, Police Department, Parks and Recreation Department, and the City Administration Office worked in real time and coordinated their work to respond to any problems.

Roads in the Oakland Hills will reopen at 5 a.m. Friday. Road closures around Lake Merritt will depend on crowd size but are also expected to be lifted by Friday morning.