Brace yourself, Fresno. Time for July 4 fires & explosions in the name of patriotism

My most memorable Fourth of July experience in Fresno occurred in the wee hours of July 5, 2013.

Not long after going to sleep, I awoke in a smoke-filled room, fearing my house was on fire.

I leaped out of bed, yanked open the screen door in my bedroom and scrambled onto the backyard patio. My next door neighbor’s roof was ablaze, and the flames were perilously close to two trees on my property whose branches extended over the fence.

The only thing to do was grab a hose, water down everything in sight and hope the fire engines arrived in time.

Thankfully, they did. Fresno Fire Department firefighters aggressively put out the blaze, and the next morning one of them told me how it started. By a bottle rocket that landed on my neighbor’s wood shake roof … set off by her teenage son.

Opinion

For readers wondering why I rant against fireworks (both the illegal and legal varieties) on an annual basis, now you know. Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley seem to have an overabundance of fireworks-happy teenage boys ― as well as immature adults who believe making things go boom on Independence Day is proof of their patriotism.

Fresno’s illegal fireworks problem may have peaked in 2020, when the fire department responded to 125 fire calls on July 4 alone. (Compared to 20-25 on an average day.) So many that overwhelmed crews stopped responding to all but the most dire of medical emergencies for nearly three hours in the evening.

“Sorry ma’am, we can’t come to your husband’s aid because the entire city is burning.” Imagine hearing that from a 9-1-1 dispatcher.

Last year, Fresno firefighters responded to 80 fires on July 4 (which was a Sunday) and 110 over the weekend, according to department spokesman Jonathan Lopez. More than half were grass fires and trash fires caused by illegal fireworks.

“The last couple years it has been nonstop fires from as soon as the sun goes down until 2 in the morning,” Lopez said.

In April, the Fresno City Council passed an ordinance that increased the penalties for illegal fireworks and widened those who can be prosecuted. Fines were doubled to $2,000 for first timers, while repeat offenders can be levied $3,000 and $5,000 for violations in the same calendar year.

More significantly, police officers and firefighters no longer have to catch someone in the act. They can now cite homeowners and renters that allow guests to set off illegal fireworks near their homes, using all available evidence, including citizen reports submitted to the FresGo app.

Let’s not make this a Fresno issue, either. Last year I spent July 4th in Visalia, and boy was it nuts. Constant explosions in the sky all night long, even though Visalia city leaders previously adopted fines and regulations similar to Fresno’s. (Visalia police also use drones to investigate illegal fireworks.)

Fireworks in a drought a dumb idea

The notion of setting off fireworks during one of the driest periods in California history, when a single spark can blacken acres or burn down someone’s house, is a dumb idea on its face. At least to those of us with fully developed frontal lobes.

Sadly, we share our community with dummies and fake patriots. When Fresno PD recently posted a public service announcement about illegal fireworks on Facebook, as well as details of a sting operation involving their sales on a social media site, half the responses were derogatory. Posters complained about their freedoms being taken away and whined about the police having more important things to do.

What about those of us who would prefer to enjoy the Fourth of July free of explosions, including pet owners and veterans living with PTSD? Do our rights matter, or only theirs?

Although sources tell me illegal fireworks are responsible for the vast majority of fires ― no stats are available ― that doesn’t mean there’s anything safe or sane about the legal kind.

Legal fireworks still cause fires and injuries, and because they explode at ground level they’re even worse for our air quality than those that explode a couple hundred feet in the air.

But Fresno (since 2000) and other Valley cities are stuck with legal fireworks because dozens of nonprofits, sports teams and PTA groups sell them to fund their activities. With no one in a leadership position brave enough to tell these groups no, the cycle of smoky blood money continues.

If these organizations truly cared about the communities they live in, they’d find a less harmful way to raise dough. Alternatively, if communities truly cared about these organizations, we’d support them without needing a box of fireworks in return.

So instead of dropping $100 on a few cones and sparklers (that don’t burn as long or brightly as the ones you remember from childhood), donate that money and take the family to a large public fireworks show instead.

I promise you won’t feel any less American.