CONCORD, Calif. (KRON) - On Independence Day, additional firefighters will be on standby in Contra Costa County.
The fire protection district anticipates a busy evening.
All fireworks in that county are illegal and fire crews are hoping the public gets the message.
At the Concord Pavilion Friday, just 80 seconds had passed before firefighters had to jump in and put out flames intentionally set by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
The source was a standard sparkler. Fireworks considered "Safe and Sane" are allowed in other counties but not Contra Costa, where the possession and use of all fireworks are illegal.
"With the Safe and Sane, it's just not going to shoot up into the air. But as you'll see, just any kind of spark can quickly light the dry grass in the vegetation because our fuel moistures are so low right now,” Fire Marshall Chris Bachman said.
Offenders caught using fireworks can be fined up to $5,000 and face jail time.
“Our fire investigation unit has been doing undercover operations and has made four different arrests for illegal selling of fireworks in the county, and we continue that and will all the way up until the fourth or after,” Bachman said.
The fire protection district says it is staffing up for the holiday weekend, adding about 50 crew members to respond to fires.
“The point of the demonstration, that even with Safe and Sane is that in approximately one minute, the fire can get out of control to where it's probably leaving your yard, getting into a neighbor's yard, getting into open space and putting other structures and people in danger,” Bachman said.
So, keep them in the box.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3xa12Ol
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