Modesto doubles fine for illegal fireworks. How much will using them cost you on July 4?

Modesto residents tempted to set off illegal fireworks on the Fourth of July have a couple of reasons to think twice: The city has doubled the penalty for using them, and the police expect to be more effective in catching people.

The City Council on Tuesday approved increasing the citation from $1,000 to $2,000 for having or using these fireworks. And it approved citations of $3,000 for a second offense and $4,000 for all subsequent offenses within 36 months.

Police officers also can issue citations for the same amounts to the renter or homeowner who lives in a home where someone else has used illegal fireworks.

Modesto and neighboring cities can appear as though they are under siege during the holiday, with loud booms and fireworks exploding in the sky, rattling the nerves of residents and their pets.

“I think it’s progressively gotten worse,” interim Fire Chief Kevin Wise said in an interview about the need to deter people from using illegal fireworks.

The Fire Department responded to 350 calls for service from July 3 through July 5 last year, according to information provided by the department. Those calls included five structure fires and 45 other blazes, such as vegetation fires or fences catching fire.

It can be difficult to determine the cause of a fire, but investigators were able to determine fireworks caused one of the structure fires, causing $70,000 in damage to a home, Wise said in a text message.

The Police Department steps up its enforcement over the holiday and the days before and after. Officers issued 44 citations during last year’s enforcement, according to the department. That’s compared with 10 citations in 2022, though in recent years the number of citations typically is in the teens.

The department’s airplane was responsible for 23 of last year’s 44 citations. The department purchased a 2012 GippsAero GA8 a little more than a year ago. Modesto bought the same type of plane used by the California Highway Patrol and other agencies.

Police officers cannot cite someone for setting off an illegal firework unless they see the person doing it. That has not been easy because of the time it takes officers to arrive on the scene once they have spotted fireworks in the sky. That’s where the airplane has made a difference.

It’s equipped with a high-tech camera that produces a livestream of exceptional quality of an incident no matter where the plane is flying over the city. The camera also rotates 360 degrees. The plane’s observer can then direct officers on the ground to the illegal fireworks.

Over this year’s Fourth of July and the days surrounding the holiday, the Police Department expects the plane to log more hours than during that same period last year. But Police Chief Brandon Gillespie told council members the focus of the bigger penalties is to discourage people from buying and using illegal fireworks.

To clear up any confusion about legal and illegal fireworks, Wise said that as a rule of thumb, an illegal firework is anything that leaves the ground. And in California, legal fireworks come with the “Safe and Sane” label.

The council also approved letting residents report their neighbors who possess or use illegal fireworks. Officers can issue a citation if two people sign an affidavit saying they saw someone possess or use illegal fireworks.

Wise acknowledged in an interview that some people may be reluctant to turn in their neighbors, but “that’s who’s calling us. The neighbors are calling on their neighbors.” He said this is just one more option in the city’s effort to reduce illegal fireworks.

The City Council also added charter and private schools to the list of nonprofits and other organizations that can sell “Safe and Sane” fireworks in the lead-up to the Fourth of July.

An official with TNT Fireworks in Modesto told council members this is an important revenue source for these groups. He said 60 of them sold $2.7 million in legal fireworks last year. The organizations keep half of the sales. Organizations need a city permit to sell fireworks, and the city will issue as many as 70 permits, according to its municipal code.

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