Officials stress fireworks caution

Warn of fire danger, personal harm and fines as products go on sale Thursday

Firework sales are set to kick off Thursday, just six days ahead of Fourth of July festivities. Public safety officials are urging local residents to “be safe and sane” this holiday by not using illegal fireworks, and they warn of consequences.

Their anxiety is partially fueled by extreme heat and weather conditions conducive to fires.

Last year was the first time Yuba City had an illegal fireworks ordinance on the books, which allows the city to issue $1,000 citations to anyone using illegal or dangerous fireworks. The city issued 24 citations in 2017 and has since collected over $23,000 in fine revenues, which is used to help cover the cost of increased enforcement and marketing, said Darin Gale, the city’s public information officer. Aidan Greathouse, a mosquito control technician with the Sutter-yuba Mosquito Vector Control District, places mosquitofish in a rice field along Humphrey Road near Franklin Road on Tuesday in Yuba City.

Little fish make big waves when it comes to fighting mosquitoes. For more than 40 years, locally, mosquitofish have been feasting on mosquito larvae in large and small bodies of water, said Michael Kimball, manager of the Sutter-yuba Mosquito Vector Control District.

“Mosquitofish are good at eliminating mosquito larvae and other organisms – they’re a generalist feeder and are part of the food chain,” Kimball said. “They can reproduce quickly and by adding them early in the mosquito season, you’ll get a lot of control on the mosquito larvae and production.”

Kimball’s crews dump the fish in Aidan Greathouse, a mosquito control technician with the Sutter-yuba Mosquito Vector Control District, holds a mosquitofish.