There were so many fireworks calls, Merced ran out of firefighters

The Merced City Fire Department received a spike of 14 fireworks-related calls on Fourth of July, and two homes burned in Atwater from fireworks that weren’t properly disposed.

Merced County and Cal Fire crews battled a fire that damaged two homes early Wednesday just after midnight, Battalion Chief Jane Schmitz said.

The homeowners in the 2300 block of Fay Drive put out their hot fireworks in a bucket, but the fireworks were not completely out and reignited in the trash can. The fire traveled throughout the entire attic of one home and to the attic of the home next door as well, Schmitz said.

Firefighters were at the scene until 6 a.m. mopping up. The attic of the first house to catch fire was completely destroyed, and the the garage and attic of the second home was damaged, Schmitz said.

No one was injured in the fire. A total of eight people were displaced.

Schmitz said the residents tried to dispose of their safe and sane fireworks properly, but didn’t quite wait long enough to put them in the trash. She suggested submerging the fireworks in a bucket of water for 24 hours before transferring them to the trash.

“There’s no reason to be in a hurry to dispose of fireworks,” she said.

County fire crews also responded to four vegetation fires on the holiday sparked by fireworks, Schmitz said.

Merced firefighters also saw a spike in calls.

“There was definitely a resource draw-down,” Capt. Ryan Paskin said. “No resources were available to respond to calls.”

Paskin said that was “fixed really quickly.” And none of the fireworks-related calls were for major injuries or fires.

But it was the perfect example of the dire situations the city has to deal with during Independence Day and the days leading up to it.

The majority of the issues are caused by two things, Paskin said, illegal fireworks and improper disposal of fireworks.

“We always promote using ‘safe and sane’ fireworks because they don’t get off the ground or go very high,” Paskin said.

Mortars and other large, illegal fireworks can sometimes land in dry, grassy land, where they can cause brush fires.

Paskin also said improper disposal of legal or illegal fireworks may cause Dumpster fires.

On July 3 and 4, the Merced fire department responded to 52 total incidents totaling 95 responding units.

Of those incidents, nine were Dumpster fires, five were grass fires and three were structure fires.

One of those structure fires destroyed a vacant home early Wednesday.

The home caught fire before 1 a.m. and was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, Merced City Fire Battalion Chief Jeremy Franklin said. The fire appeared to start in a rear room or hallway and traveled through the roof, Franklin said.

Firefighters controlled the fire within 30 minutes but remained on scene mopping up and investigating until about 4 a.m.

Franklin said the cause of the fire is under investigation but does not appear to be firework related. He estimated the total damages were about $100,000.

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 4:20 PM with the headline "There were so many fireworks calls, Merced ran out of firefighters."