Illegal fireworks caused a spattering of fires around the county
this weekend, and over 100 calls for illegal fireworks were handled
by the Hollister Fire Department on the day of the Fourth
alone.
Illegal fireworks caused a spattering of fires around the county this weekend, and over 100 calls for illegal fireworks were handled by the Hollister Fire Department on the day of the Fourth alone.
The fire department recorded six fires started by illegal fireworks in the city, all of them small grass fires with no major structural damage, and a handful of citations were given but no arrests were made, said Fire Marshal Michael O’Connor.
The exact number of citations has not been calculated yet between those issued by the Hollister Police Department, San Benito County Sheriff’s Department and fire department.
“We are following up on one pipe bomb someone threw into a mailbox on Gonzalez Drive around 2 a.m. on (Monday morning),” he said. “And if found, they’ll definitely face a felony charge.”
A substantial amount of illegal fireworks were also confiscated, O’Connor said.
The California Department of Forestry also recorded about six fires around the county started by fireworks – all of them small vegetation fires with the exception of a shed fire at El Torro and Hillcrest streets around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, said CDF Investigator Cliff Williams said.
The fire, which took about 20 minutes for both CDF and the Hollister Fire Department to extinguish, was started most likely by bottle rockets, Williams said.
The fire started on the roof and burned the structure to the ground, Williams said.
“It was probably a bottle rocket because it’s the only thing that could reach up there,” he said.
Investigators don’t have any suspects as to who caused the fire because no one who lived on the property the shed was located on was home at the time, Williams said.
The residents told investigators they had heard fireworks being set off around the neighborhood Thursday evening, Williams said.
Any firework that explodes or shoots into the air is considered illegal in California. These types of fireworks are not illegal in neighboring states such as Nevada, Oregon and Arizona, which is where they usually come from, Williams said.
“This is just a good example of people using fireworks improperly,” Williams said. “This is why they’re illegal because people don’t use them properly.”
