Over the weekend, vivid bursts of color and deafening roars cut
through the Hollister sky as residents celebrated our nation’s
birthday with food, friends and, of course, fireworks.
Over the weekend, vivid bursts of color and deafening roars cut through the Hollister sky as residents celebrated our nation’s birthday with food, friends and, of course, fireworks.
And amid concern that the miniature explosions would ignite fires similar to the thousands burning statewide, authorities said they were relieved by a lower number of firework-related emergency calls and less widespread use of illegal fireworks.
All told, the Hollister Fire Department responded to 108 firework-related emergency calls, wrote four citations and confiscated 292 pounds of illegal fireworks over the weekend and in the weeks leading up to the holiday.
The amount confiscated was more than three times as great as last year’s haul of 90 pounds – a fact O’Connor attributes to the department responding more efficiently to illegal activity.
“The amount of illegal fireworks going off over the city was down, so we were able to concentrate on where they were going off and were actually able to confiscate more than last year,” said Hollister Fire Captain Michael O’Connor. “I think people were nervous about the other fires in the state and didn’t have as much money for illegal fireworks because of the economy.”
The fire department’s optimistic outlook on the weekend’s illegal firework activity seemed at odds with several residents who agreed when it came to illegal fireworks – this year was worse than last.
“Tons of people had the illegal ones,” said Hollister resident Phil Zendejas. “I kept hearing them in the days before the Fourth … It’s kind of annoying if you ask me.”
Gloria Valencia of Hollister said the fireworks sounded like “gun shots, all night long.”
“They were going off everywhere,” Valencia said. “I think they’ll probably be back at the rally weekend, too.”
In weeks prior, a debate on whether all fireworks – including the safe and sane variety – should be made illegal had polarized the community. Cities like Gilroy had considered banning them and other cities like Watsonville had gone through with the ban.
In the end, however, safe and sane fireworks were sold from colorful booths run by local nonprofit agencies and youth sports organizations and set up in parking lots throughout Hollister.
Hollister Code Enforcement Officer Mike Chambless skipped the barbecues and spent his weekend rounding up illegal fireworks. He said that a list has been made with the names and addresses of all residences visited by fire officials regarding illegal fireworks and that “they’ll receive our special attention” if any future problems occur.
No illegal fireworks were reported outside the city limits, and San Benito County Fire Capt. Manuel Guerrero said he was happy his firefighters had a relatively quiet weekend.
“What a surprise!” Guerrero said. “I think people are hearing about the fires and they know the conditions and they’re being extra careful.”
Standing around a pile of confiscated fireworks, Chambless, O’Connor and Hollister Fire Chief Fred Cheshire agreed that the fire department would be taking a stronger stand against illegal fireworks in years to come.
“Fines are going to double next year,” O’Connor said. “We’re going to aggressively pursue all illegal fireworks activity.”
