Over the last few days, several Contra Costa County law enforcement agencies have provided their data and responses to complaints of fireworks.
Last week, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District highlighted Year-over-year, fire incidents were up nearly 60 percent. Even as all fireworks in Contra Costa County are illegal.
According to CONFIRE, holiday evening’s 69 fire incidents point up the dangers of fireworks use in current heightened fire danger conditions. Eleven of these fires are known to have been caused, and another 51 suspected of having been caused, by fireworks.
Fires by City:
- 22 – City of Antioch
- 8 – Bay Point
- 10 – City of Concord
- 9 – City of Pittsburg
- 8 – Out of District
- 3 – City of San Pablo
- 2 – City of Oakley
- 2 – City of Pleasant Hill
- 1 – City of Martinez
- 1 – City of Walnut Creek
- 1 – El Sobrante
Over the last few days, several law enforcement agencies have provided their data and responses to complaints of fireworks.
Here is a rundown of the fireworks by city which were asked the following questions:
- Number of fireworks complaints?
- Number of citations?
- Number of arrests?
- Confiscation of fireworks?
- Any special circumstances?
Antioch Police Department
Reported that they had 40 calls for service with multiple calls for service. They had well over 100 actual calls into dispatch.
Brentwood Police Department
- Number of fireworks complaints? 89
- Number of citations? 0
- Number of arrests? 0
- Confiscation of fireworks? 0
Concord Police Department
From May 24th – July 5th 2023, there were a total of 493 incidents, compared to 2022 when there were over 665 incidents. This is an overall decrease of approximately 26%. The majority of the calls (414) came through Concord Connect.
There was a 16% decrease in the number of Concord Connect reports from 2022 (491) to 2023 (414) and a 75% decrease in the number of calls dispatch created in CAD (in 2022 there were 174 and in 2023 there were 79)
There was one citation issued for 15.70.020 CMC. No fireworks were confiscated. The majority of firework complaints were either heard or seen in the sky; however, one of the difficulties was pinpointing the exact address of where the fireworks were coming from. The majority of the complaints (287) were generated on the 4th of July. From May 24th – July 3rd 2023, there were 206 complaints.
Martinez Police Department
- 1 arrest for public Intoxication
- 55 fireworks calls for service for noise complaints
- The call for the subject who may have been injured by fireworks was from the unincorporated area. I would contact the sheriff office for that information as we did not respond.
Oakley Police Department
94 firework related calls for service over our operational period (June 30 – July 4). Fireworks remains a very under reported issue. Six cases are being processed for administrative citations which include a $1k fine:
- 400 block of Almondtree Circle
- 200 block of Silver Bell Way
- 5000 block of Miguel Drive
- 20 block of Minaret Road
- 10 block of Vignola Court
- 1600 block of Lillian Street
Pittsburg Police Department
According to the presentation at the Oakley City Council meeting, Chief Beard provided data from the City of Pittsburg where they had 174 firework calls over 5 days with 112 calls on July 4.
San Pablo Police Department
San Pablo Police responded to 36 fireworks related calls for service. This was a 47% reduction of fireworks calls compared to last year. The Department had special assignment patrol teams who were tasked with high-visibility to dissuade illegal fireworks activity. The 4th of July detail was a culmination of weeks of our outreach and education campaign of illegal fireworks activity in the area. Additionally, the City of San Pablo returned our annual Multi-Cultural 4th of July Celebration which included a drone light show at the Community Center. This event brought nearly 3,000 attendees and we believed played a role in the reduction of illegal fireworks.
Subsequently we had no arrests, citations, or seizures of fireworks. We also had no reported incidents of injuries related to fireworks. There was one report of a small tree fire which was extinguished prior to significant damage. The fire was unconfirmed but believed to have been related to fireworks.
Did not provide data
- City of Pittsburg
- City of San Ramon
- City of Walnut Creek