Fourth of July goes out with a bang
Fireworks confiscated, citations given
The constant crackle and boom of fireworks can be heard every Fourth of July celebration, but many fires and accidents also happen on this very festive day.
It’s unclear how many illegal fireworks are blown up each year, but one only has to look up and see the twinkling booming lights in the night sky, that are often seen lit up days before the holiday to know they are out there.
Reports of fires, and accidents are common on the Fourth, and so again this year the Porterville Fire Department partnered with the Porterville Police Department in an effort to remain vigilant and crack down on the use of illegal fireworks.
Fortunately, there were no serious fires and no injuries.
“Three grass fires were attributed to illegal fireworks,” reported the Porterville Fire Department.
Not everyone had a happy Fourth, officers confiscates over 600 various illegal fireworks and 14 citations were issued.
Each citation carries a fine of $1,500 for anybody in possession of dangerous fireworks without holding a valid permit. The fine used to be $500 or $1,000 dollars, but since an increase in the use of illegal fireworks, fines have gone up, but the fire department also says that the number of citations has declined year to year.
For those who fail to pay such fines, they could face a county jail sentence of up to one year.
Capt. Joanne Bear of the Tulare County Fire Department said they received calls of trash can and grass fires all throughout the county Tuesday night.
“We confiscated a few illegal fireworks, and received calls from all over, Goshen, Orosi, Pixley, in the Earlimart area, and a few in Porterville,” said Bear.
The Porterville Fire Department would like to remind the residents that as of midnight, the night of the Fourth of July, fireworks were no longer permitted within city limits.
Among the dangerous fireworks qualifiable for a fine and determined to not be safe and sane are firecrackers, rockets and cakes that can rise up into the air creating an exploding aerial effect.
For more information regarding the use of fireworks, call the Porterville Fire Department at 782-7526 or the Porterville Police Department at 782-7400.