Two local Reno fire agencies say that between them, they responded to more than 20 fires on the Fourth of July that were sparked by illegal fireworks.
Reno Fire specifically says they normally respond to three or four fires a day, and on Saturday alone, they dealt with at least 12 fires attributed to illegal fireworks.
“As is often the case in these fire-related or fireworks-related investigations, the people who were setting off the fireworks flee the scene,” said RFD Chief Dave Cochran. “While we can identify that it was fireworks-related, we have not identified anybody in particular or a person of interest who might be responsible for that.”
Reno Police's illegal firework enforcement team also responded to reports related to illegal firework usage, but at this time have yet to provide numbers.
The majority of these fires were small and did not threaten any people or property. Some were even out by the time fire crews were able to respond. Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue says they responded to about 12 fires on their own that began due to illegal fireworks.
“Fortunately, we, along with our regional partners, City of Sparks, City of Reno, our federal agencies, were able to respond to those fairly quickly. Get our hands around them. It wasn't a very gusty evening either, so that certainly played into it,” said Adam Mayberry, Public Information Officer for TMFR.
But that wasn’t the case for every fire.
“Depending on where we respond to, some of the fires were already out by the time we got there, or there were false alarms, or we were able to get around them pretty quickly. So, it was certainly a busy night for us,” said Mayberry.
First responders say this night is usually the busiest of the year for them, and they work hard to prepare for it, but calls for the illegal firework fires can be frustrating.
“When we have this increased call volume, and it's not just us, dispatch had a two-hour span between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. where they had almost 600 calls. So, when they're trying to field all those calls while responding to calls, it means we're not available to respond to true emergencies, and the true emergencies are what we're here for,” said Chief Cochran.
Both agencies ask the public to help them and refrain from the use of illegal fireworks in the future.
There was also a small fire near the Grand Sierra Resort that was started from a professional public display but was self-reported and out very quickly without any substantial property damage.
