How busy were Merced police, firefighters this July 4? See how many calls they responded to

Every July 4, Merced public safety officials cross their fingers and hope no one loses their home — or their lives — to fire, primarily because of the proliferation of illegal fireworks in the community.

Even though there was no shortage of exploding bottlerockets lighting up the skies on July 4 this year, fire officials breathed a sigh of relief after the holiday weekend came and went without any major incidents or injuries.

Despite several firework-related grass and rubbish fires, firefighters responded to significantly less calls this July 4, compared to one year ago, according to Merced fire officials.

City of Merced firefighters responded to 36 calls on July 3, three of which were grass fires.

On July 4, firefighters responded to 39 calls, of which 17 were grass fires, according to Merced Fire Chief Derek Parker.

Fire personnel also responded to about 12 medical calls. Parker said the fire department averages about 24 medical aid calls per day.

In comparison, last year on July 4 Merced fire personnel responded to 55 calls that included 18 grass fires and one structure fire, according to Parker.

Parker called this recent July 4 holiday “One of the slowest Fourth of July’s we had in probably the last 10 years.”

“Especially in north Merced, there just seemed to be a lot less illegal fireworks used, although there were still plenty,” Parker said.

There was also less monetary loss recorded this year due to the fact there were no big structure fires, according to fire officials.

The largest incident the fire department responded to on July 4 was a 2-to-3 acre grass fire that occurred around 10:27 p.m. in the area of East Gerard Avenue and South Coffee Street.

According to Parker, the cause of that fire is unknown.

Merced Police Sgt. Jose Barajas said officers responded to 103 calls for service regarding illegal firework activity on July 4, and a total of about 152 from July 1 through July 4.

Barajas said about 10 to 15 of those reports were submitted through the Merced Connect app.

“I want to say we might have been busier the prior years,” Barajas said.

According to Barajas, July 4 was a busy night for staffing and between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. which is when it “really kicks off.”

Police saw illegal firework activity throughout the city with most of it concentrated in south Merced, according to Barajas.

There, officers reported seeing illegal firework activity within blocks of each other compared to the central and northern areas of of the city where the activity appeared to be more spread out.

A reason the activity appeared to be more persistent in the south Merced area, is possibly due to the fact that it is a smaller more concentrated area that was inundated with illegal fireworks, according to Barajas.

Fire officials said that together, fire and police personnel issued 33 citations for a total amount of $33,000 in fines. Of those, 10 citations were issued by police officers from July 1 through 4, Barajas said.

According to Parker, about 100 pounds of illegal fireworks were confiscated, and will be taken to a state-recognized disposal site controlled by the State Fire Marshal.

Fire officials said it is unknown just why there appeared to be less illegal firework activity than the previous year.

“It was a cooler evening and it was windy, that may have something to do with it,” Parker said. “While there were a lot of (illegal) fireworks in the air, it was much less than the previous year.”

Parker credits the Merced Police Department for its assistance when it comes to the enforcement of illegal fireworks, saying he attributes a lot of the success to officers who seized hundreds of pounds of illegal fireworks leading up to the holiday.

On June 29, the Merced Police Department reported it had seized thousands of illegal fireworks throughout the month of June.

Parker went on to say that he believes the community has recognized illegal fireworks are a problem and he appreciates the time community members took to report incidents via the Merced Connect app.

“We still have more work to do and we won’t stop our work; however, there is still plenty of room for improvement,” Parker said.

This story was originally published July 7, 2022 at 4:22 PM.