Fireworks crackdown brought fewer citations but higher fines in Sacramento
Sacramento levied $267,000 in illegal fireworks citations over the Fourth of July holiday, city officials said this week, the fruits of a get-tough strategy that ramps up enforcement and boosts fines for offenders.
Sacramento Fire Department and city code enforcement officers handed out 44 citations during the Indepedence Day enforcement period, July 2-5. That’s fewer than the 55 citations issued during last year’s holiday, the city said, but stiffer fines enacted by Sacramento leaders in June pushed the total to more than twice the roughly $100,000 collected in 2024.
“This year’s data shows that our new approach is working,” said Jason Lee, the city’s fire marshal. “We’re holding people accountable for unsafe behavior and focusing our enforcement efforts where they’re needed most. These citations send a clear message: illegal fireworks won’t be tolerated in Sacramento.”
Sacramento City Council members in June passed the new ordinance to increase penalties for illegal fireworks, including for offenders who launch multiple fireworks. The new statute also increases fines to up to $10,000 if the illegal items are set off near parks, schools or other critical infrastructure.
Sacramento city officials also released a map charting illegal firework activity over the holiday, using calls to fire dispatchers and complaints sent via the city’s 311 phone line and online reporting tools. The heat map showed the most activity in South Natomas along the West El Camino Avenue corridor, the Hagginwood neighborhoods of North Sacramento and several portions of the Meadowview, most pronounced near Freeport Boulevard and Florin Road.
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