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Contra Costa Fire Reminds Community All Fireworks are Illegal

by CC News
Fireworks

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District reminds the public that all fireworks re illegal in contra Costa County.

To report fireworks in the County, call 833-885-2021.

The announce comes after Contra Costa County firefighters have been battling several vegetation fires in dry fields in East Contra Costa County, inlcuding a 48-acre fire this week in the City of Brentwood and a 31- acre vegetation fire last week in the City of Pittsburg.

Contra Costa County Fire has also urged the community to be prepared for the upcoming fire season while according to Wildland Battalion Chief Tom Zurflueh shared over the past few months, is studying the forecast and with the recent rains and warm weather, its increased the grass fuel loads – grass is more of a risk as fire season approaches.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in fires, and vegetation fires so with the increased grass crop, we are going to see a bit more fire behavior, fires are going to be harder to put out so its going to take more increased efforts,” explained Zurflueh who also acknowledged later in the fire season they will be dealing with El Nino and high winds, higher temperatures which will bring higher fire behavior.

According to data, CONFIRE has responded to the following vegetation fires:

  • 2025 – 190
  • 2024 – 261
  • 2023 – 211
  • 2022 – 243

 

Recent Fires:

 


2025 Incidents

Oakley Saw 65% Increase in July 4 Fireworks Related Calls for Service

In 2025, Oakley Police Department provided a review of its 2025 fireworks mitigation which resulted in a 65% increase in calls for service over the July 4 holiday related to fireworks.

According to Lt. Robert Roberts, even with social media education efforts and announcements, a fireworks forum on June 11, along with citizens providing tips for 45 locations of fireworks.

The operation included 3 days (July 3-5) and had 20 dedicated staff to the operation with 100 hours. The city saw a 65% increase between 2024 to 2025 between June 1-July 11.

  • 2025 – 160
  • 2024 – 97

“It was not surprising to me. I knew with 4th of July coming on a Friday I knew it was going to be a challenge,” said Roberts. “I figured our numbers our numbers would go up and lucky for us our citizens were calling in and giving us locations.”

According to Roberts, they saw a loss of 36% in citations issued dropping from 14 in 2024 to 9 in 2025. They also saw 3 fire calls in 2024 versus 14 fire calls in 2025 – an increase of 375%.

2024: CONFIRE Reports 30% Increase in Firework Activity 

In 2024, CONFIRE reported a 30% increase in activity on the July 4 holiday when compared to last year. The District brought in 2-3 extra dispatchers and answered 1,104 calls between 10:00 am to 3:00 am. On a normal day, the call volume is around a couple hundred calls—July 4 was nearly 4x the norm.

Calls included:

  • 92 total fire (exterior) calls
  • 16 vegetation fires
  • 13 structure fires
  • 128 medical calls.
  • 60 other calls along with 8 other fire calls.

A total of 317 incidents were dispatched with a majority of those being EMS or fire related calls that have something to do with the activities on the July 4 holiday

Also… Contra Costa Fire Highlights July 4 Fireworks-Related Responses for 2023.

mdrr

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