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Beyond the Boom: The Real Cost of Illegal Fireworks

• Rob Bentley

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The dangerous reality of Fourth of July celebrations takes center stage as Hanford's top public safety officials sound the alarm on illegal fireworks. Fire Chief Daniel Perkins reveals shocking statistics: 92 firework-related emergency calls last Independence Day weekend, four severe burn victims (three being children), and one home suffering $50,000 in damage from a single errant firework. Meanwhile, Police Chief Stephanie Huddleston shares how her department handled a staggering 465 calls for service during the same three-day period.

Beyond the immediate danger of fires, our conversation unveils the hidden victims of fireworks celebrations. Veterans struggling with PTSD experience traumatic episodes when unexpected explosions trigger combat memories. Pets, with their superior hearing, suffer intense pain and fear—sometimes with fatal consequences. These sobering realities prompted Chief Perkins to pose a powerful question that will become next year's safety campaign: "Is it worth it?"

Both chiefs explain what constitutes an illegal firework (anything rising above eight feet or leaving the ground under its own power) and detail the severe penalties awaiting those who ignore the law. Fines range from $5,000 to an eye-watering $100,000 depending on quantity. They also offer practical advice for residents, from how to properly dispose of spent fireworks (submerge in water for over an hour) to reporting dangerous activity (call 559-585-2540). With the holiday falling on a Friday this year, both departments are increasing patrols throughout the weekend.

As we celebrate our nation's independence, let's remember what truly matters: the safety and well-being of our community. Join us for this crucial conversation that might just change how you approach this year's celebrations.

You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
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Speaker 1:

On this episode of the Hanford Insider. Hanford Police Chief Stephanie Huddleston and Hanford Fire Chief Daniel Perkins join Rob for a discussion about the dangers of illegal fireworks this Independence Day. Rob will give us the latest City Council updates and we'll get a quick check of the community calendar. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, june 23rd.

Speaker 2:

This is the Hanford Insider, the podcast where we dive into what makes our community tick, from local stories and hidden gems to conversations with people shaping our neighborhood. We're here to celebrate, explore and connect. I'm your host, rob Bentley. Whether you're new to Hanford or a longtime local, this is your source for everything happening in our town, from events and news to conversations with people who make Hanford such a great community. I hope you enjoy the format. Now let's take a look at this week's community news.

Speaker 2:

Last week the City Council had a relatively short meeting Due to Lou Martinez stepping down as mayor for health-related reasons. A new mayor needed to be appointed. Travis Payton was the choice and Nancy Howes was appointed to fill his spot as vice mayor. Councilman Lou Martinez will remain on the council representing Area D until his term expires. There was a proposal for the city to put on a patriotic drone show for the 4th of July, but it was very expensive and there just isn't enough time to put it together, so they voted no. The council met again on Thursday afternoon for a short time to select two companies to interview for the selection of a new city manager. They'll interview the two firms soon and officially begin the recruitment process.

Speaker 2:

In county news, sheriff David Robinson announced last week that he'll be retiring three years into his six-year term due to health-related reasons. The County Board of Supervisors will now have to determine whether to fill the spot through appointment or a special election. We'll hear more about that in the coming weeks. Last week, captain Mellon of the Hanford Fire Department announced that nearly $20,000 was raised for the Lisa Ann Roosh Byrne Foundation from the department's participation in the Fresno Urban Run. Check out the April 6th edition of the Insider to learn more about this important foundation for burn victims. Mothers Against Drunk Driving was proud this week to recognize Hanford Police Officer Anthony Zamora for his contributions to end drunk driving, support victims of these violent crimes and prevent underage drinking. Officer Zamora made 43 DUI arrests in 2024. Thank you for your outstanding efforts, officer Zamora. Your awareness is making Hanford a safer city.

Speaker 2:

Finally, I wanted to let you know that next week's episode will mark the 100th episode of the Hanford Insider podcast and the last episode of season two. I'll be taking a few weeks off and resuming on July 28th with all new episodes. Be sure to tune in next week for a special interview with our new vice mayor, nancy Howes. We'll check in with her to see how the first six months of being on the city council has been going. I'll also have some special shout outs to my supporters and guests.

Speaker 2:

Let's take a look at this week's community calendar. Kings County Animal Services will be holding a free microchip event for dogs and cats on Monday June 23rd from 9 to 11 am and Tuesday June 24th from 5 to 7 pm. This will be located at their center at 10909 Bonnevue Lane. This is a great opportunity to get your pet's microchip before the 4th of July and it's free. For more information, call 559-852-2525. At this week's Thursday Night Marketplace they'll be celebrating Agriculture Appreciation Night with music by the Executive Rockers.

Speaker 2:

Part 1 of the History of Kings County Agriculture display at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County runs through the end of July. The museum is located at 109 East 8th Street and is open Fridays, saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm. Visit carnegiemuseumofkingsCountyorg for more information. Yosemite Renaissance 40 is now on display at the King's Art Center. Visit KingsArtCenterorg for more details.

Speaker 2:

As you heard on last week's episode, the Children's Storybook Gardening Museum is holding a red, white and blue party on Saturday, july 5th from 10 am until noon. For reservations and more information, visit childrenstorybookgardenorg. On Sunday, july 6th, the Hanford Toy Anime Comic Con will be held at the Hanford Fraternal Hall from 11 am to 4 pm. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to hanfordinsider at gmailcom. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events. It's the most comprehensive community calendar available.

Speaker 2:

Well, july 4th is coming up and we're about to celebrate Independence Day in Hanford and around the country, and I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to review some of the things about fireworks in Hanford. There are lots of reports of illegals and there's a great time had by all by safe and sane fireworks too. But I'd like to welcome to the show Chief Daniel Perkins of the Hanford Fire Department and Chief Stephanie Huddleston from the Hanford Police Department. Welcome to the show. Thank you, stephanie. I know that there are a tremendous amount of calls for service during the week of Fourth of July and this week, with Fourth of July being on a Friday, we can expect a busy weekend for the.

Speaker 3:

Hanford Police Department. Yes, absolutely. With the number of calls that come in on a holiday weekend, it tends to overwhelm our resources. Last year, between July 3rd and July 5th, we handled 465 calls for service.

Speaker 4:

And also the fire department. Chief Perkins not experienced a 200% increase in firework sales nationwide, and in California alone that's equated to about $22 million in preventable injuries and approximately 10,000 injuries, with 7,000 of them requiring hospitalization. So I don't think people are aware of how dangerous fireworks are. Now, specifically for the city of Hanford, last year on July 4th we had four severe burn injuries that required hospitalization. Three of them were children that had third and second degree burns on their feet just from errant fireworks or stepping on hot fireworks fireworks. We had 92 specific fireworks calls last year between the 3rd and the 5th, which overwhelmed our resources. We had seven brush fires. We had two that threatened homes and one that actually caught a home on fire and caused about $50,000 plus worth of damage. If that home had not had fire sprinklers in their garage, that home would have been burnt probably half or more, because all of our units were tied up on another call at the same time. So when the calls come in, they do overwhelm us quite readily.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, as I recall, we were discussing that incident when we had an interview about eight months or so ago and it was a firework that was lit off actually in the street and shot into the garage.

Speaker 4:

Absolutely, it was an illegal firework that was lit off actually in the street and shot into the garage. Absolutely, it was an illegal firework that was lit off across the street. The neighbors had reported that, but in that total of 92 specific fireworks calls that overwhelms our resources to get there. We were across town, on the other side of town, handling the other brush fires that were there when that call happened. The firework, basically, rather than going up in the sky laid down, shot directly into his garage, caught all of the items that were in a storage bin and some of the things on his wall on fire and then, luckily for him, he did have those fire sprinklers that helped suppress it, but it didn't stop it from causing $50,000 plus worth of damage to his home. So all of these things can have some very, very serious consequences that many people don't realize that happen, because it doesn't happen to me doesn't happen anywhere.

Speaker 2:

So let's talk about illegal fireworks. What constitutes actually a firework that is illegal?

Speaker 4:

An illegal firework, specifically in the state of California, is anything that rises any higher than eight feet from its point of origin, anything that gets off of the ground under its own power. You have to throw it to do something like that. So again, if it does something like that, it's not a safe and sane firework. And all safe and sane fireworks have a specific state fire marshal stamp on the outside of it that says safe and sane and it comes from the California state fire marshal. If it doesn't have that stamp on it, then it's an illegal firework.

Speaker 2:

So I understand that fires obviously can arise from a firework that goes off in the wrong direction or lands on a tree or in a house or something like that. But what are some other causes? I know trash cans are big ones that people don't extinguish them. What are some other causes? I know trash cans are big ones that people don't extinguish them Absolutely.

Speaker 4:

So typically what happens is everybody has a great time Fourth of July, we do our safe and sane fireworks and then we have that big pile of leftover stinky mess that somebody wants to do away with. What it takes is for you to actually drown those fireworks, actually specifically submerge them for over an hour, completely soak them, then let them sit out away from a trash can overnight Don't put them in the trash can. Let them breathe and then finally drain the excess water off of it and then dispose of the fireworks the next day afterwards. Several of the fires that we had the following day were related to fireworks being dumped into the bins, as people thought well, they're done, they're actually still burning or smoldering. They'll put them in that plastic waste bin, put it over the top. It starts combusting. They put it up next to the house and now we have a trashcan fire that gets up into the attic, and now we burn a house down plus the trashcans.

Speaker 2:

So, Stephanie, from the PD side of it, how are patrols going to look on Independence Day, Independence Day weekend.

Speaker 3:

So we will have some additional officers out on the street for fireworks specifically. That really is a duty of the fire department. They have the responsibility for investigating and patrolling that as well. But we will have officers out to provide that assistance. You know, report anything that we see and respond to those calls for service that come in regarding fireworks.

Speaker 2:

So if someone in a neighborhood sees a neighbor lighting illegal fireworks off and it's a dangerous situation, what's your recommendation for them to report that?

Speaker 3:

The best thing they can do is contact us at our non-emergency line, which is 559-585-2540, and provide as much information as possible what they're seeing, if they can tell where it's coming from, to give our officers an idea and to give the fire department an idea, when we arrive in the area, what we're looking for exactly.

Speaker 2:

So you talked about the non-emergency line and we hear that a lot. You know, if there's a minor accident, we don't need to call 911. We can call that 585-2540. What does calling that number do to alleviate the stress of your 911 operators?

Speaker 3:

So all of the calls go into our dispatch center and it is the same set of operators. But there are a limited number of 911 lines and we encourage people not to call 911 unless it's absolutely an emergency. Because if we tie up those lines then they're not available for someone else who might be trying to reach 911, and they would receive a busy signal. So if they're calling just to report fireworks, unless there's an actual fire or some type of a medical aid that needs an emergent response, we would encourage them not to call 911, but rather to use the non-emergency line.

Speaker 2:

So, having said that, chief Perkins, I know that we do see the fire trucks roaming the streets on 4th of July. They're not just holed up in the station, are?

Speaker 4:

they no, they're not, as a matter of fact, attempting to do three additional units, two of our patrols plus an extra chief officer and myself, so I guess that would be a total of four extra units specifically just to roam around within the community, make ourselves a little more mobile, specifically just to roam around within the community. Make ourselves a little more mobile, as what we found from last year was we got tied up on smaller calls that we could have pushed over to a lesser engine or a smaller piece of equipment. Let them handle that and us be available for a larger fire, which was really the premise of the person losing $50,000 worth of their property. We weren't able to get to that call in time to prevent that from happening because we were tied up with other smaller calls that we could have done away with, not had so many people on one particular call.

Speaker 3:

One of the complaints we've received in the past for fireworks calls is that perhaps we're not getting there fast enough. I just wanted to make it clear as we respond to calls for service, those calls are prioritized by the seriousness of the call. On a busy weekend we may have calls of fights and assaults and domestic violence and things of that nature coming in that tie up all of our resources and, you know, are a threat to the safety of individuals, a threat to the safety of individuals. And so sometimes some of those firework calls unless it's an actual fire or threatening a structure or someone has a medical aid need, they may get pushed down in priority based on other calls that are coming in. And so I would just say for citizens to call if they don't see us right away, it's not that we're not responding, it's just that we have other higher priority calls coming in that we have to handle in that order.

Speaker 2:

So, daniel, the fireworks are dangerous. We know that they cause fires, but it goes well beyond that. When you're talking about pets, you're talking about veterans. What are some of the effects that some of these big bombs going off in the air have on people?

Speaker 4:

Well, it's interesting that you talk about that. One of the things that we do get consistent requests for are actions so that we decrease the number of fireworks that go off on the 4th of July or around that holiday because of people that do have pets that are sensitive to that. And remember that dogs, as well as other animals, have hearing that's far superior to ours. It really does painfully injure them, causes them to be very frightened. Many dogs oftentimes even die from the stress of 4th of July. So we always recommend that the pet owners or your animal lovers do reach out to their veterinarians, find a solution prior to the 4th of July, either remove them from the general area or again seek other veterinarians advice about what to do that with or what to do for them.

Speaker 4:

I think one of the other things, too, is the veterans. All of our veterans have served our, our country, admirably, and many of them do at times suffer from ptsd. It's such a tragic thing to have happen, and then you'd be reminded about something that's so painful and just for the sake of us, having this small amount of joy causes so much more grief and injury to everyone else. So it really asks the public to think about that before you engage in this illegal activity, and whether or not it's worth it. I think that's really what we're trying to come up with is is it worth it for you to do the fireworks and that's what we'll be pushing for next year's Is it Worth it?

Speaker 2:

campaign.

Speaker 4:

So, speaking of if it's worth it, there are fines attached to any kind of if you're caught with illegal, illegal fireworks. In addition to that, any larger amounts, multiple amounts, those fines can range anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000, depending upon the total amount of fireworks that you have. So again, we don't want to tell people how much again to be aware of, but I think that it's really something to think about when you're getting ready to utilize those fireworks that there are some severe fines. We issued a fine last year that exceeded about $5,000 for the total amount of fireworks and that was again paid by that individual. But we do have that option to enact that especially. That's why we're teaming with the Hanford Police Department and Chief Huddleston's personnel so that we can issue those penal code violations along with the pieces within the California Assembly Bill 1403 that allow us to do that specific type of citation as a criminal citation.

Speaker 2:

Fireworks have been around a long time, a long long time, and we've seen an increase in the number of illegal fireworks coming across the border. People are lighting them off and it's a big business.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, billion dollar industry. That was the previous two years statistics. They're estimating now that in the last year they've had such a massive increase that their new estimates are looking at two and a half billion. So $2.5 billion worth of illegal fireworks are sold within the United States. And remember too that just outside of California our neighbors that touch us all have fireworks that they sell. They are legal in their state, but the minute that you bring them across into California, if it's not stamped safe and sane by the California State Fire Marshal, that is an illegal firework. That's also they're looking at federal charges, because now you're moving something for either sale in another area illegally. So those, those types of charges are being looked at in a more holistic effort with law enforcement, not only from CHP but the state fire marshal. So I would encourage people to really start thinking about is it worth it and that's the campaign we're going to go with next year Is it worth it for you to cause this type of damage to your community?

Speaker 2:

Well, this is great information. I'm glad that A the city council has stepped up their priorities in terms of fines, and obviously, law enforcement and fire department has done things to make sure that we're safe on the 4th of July, and I want to thank both of you for coming on the show, because this is an important one. We don't want to see people get hurt, we don't want to see homes being lost, and we just thank you for your service.

Speaker 4:

Absolutely. Thank you for having us.

Speaker 3:

Thank you.

Speaker 2:

That's all the time we have for this week's show. If you enjoyed this podcast and you'd like to show your support, you can go to buymeacoffeecom slash Hanford Insider to make a donation. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by my website at hanfordinsidercom to sign up for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week. I also need your help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media or telling a friend For more information about the show. You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, threads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at hanfordinsider at gmailcom and I'll look into it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.

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Rob Bentley

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