July Fourth celebrations with illegal fireworks came at high cost - $300k in fines
While Sacramento celebrated the nation’s 250th anniversary, local fire and police were busy in the air, behind video monitors and in capital-area neighborhoods keeping watch for illegal fireworks.
The work paid off with stacks of citations across the Sacramento area, officials said, and steep costs for offenders — including a fine of $100,000 or more for one Del Paso Heights home’s pyrotechnic display.
“Our drone sat up there until the battery went dead, then we sent another one up,” Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Justin Sylvia said. The department’s unmanned drones, each with 35 to 40 minutes of battery life, hovered for more than an hour over the illegal display, the fine soaring with each firework explosion.
The Del Paso Heights tally grew quickly.
Sacramento issues a $1,000 fine for a first device; $2,500 for the second; and $5,000 for every device launched after that, Sylvia said.
The fine jumps to $10,000 per device if the pyrotechnics are found or launched around a school, park or other critical infrastructure, according to the fire department.
Sacramento Fire Department issued 70 citations including the ticket in Del Paso, and $300,000 in fines, on July 4 alone, Sylvia said, citing preliminary totals.
“The drones are definitely helping report it all,” Sylvia said. His department has plans to add two more drones to its fleet for a total of four unmanned aircraft.
Sacramento County continues to sort through the approximately 600 complaints for illegal fireworks it received during the Independence Day holiday weekend, said Capt. Mark Nunez, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District spokesman, in a statement.
Like Sacramento Fire, Metro Fire used unmanned drones to monitor fireworks, pairing with Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies’ video surveillance, and residents’ cellular phone submissions to track illegal firework launches across the unincorporated county.
Metro Fire serves more than 720,000 people across 359 square miles of unincorporated Sacramento County, the cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova, as well as a portion of Placer County.
Final enforcement numbers are not yet available, but county staff are reviewing the complaints along with video evidence from Metro Fire drones, sheriff’s deputies and residents to determine whether to issue fines or citations.
Nunez of Metro Fire said reviewing the complaints for citations or fines could take up to two months, depending on whether additional complaints are received.
Fire crews were also busy in southern Sacramento County’s Cosumnes Fire District. Its firefighters serve the unincorporated south county and the cities of Elk Grove and Galt.
Cosumnes Fire crews were called to 61 incidents, including 12 fires, in the 24 hours between 7 a.m. July 4 and 7 a.m. July 5. Fireworks were identified as the cause of eight of those fires, said Jenna Brinkman, a Cosumnes Community Services District spokesperson.
They included three trash fires, four grass or vegetation fires, and a vehicle fire, all sparked by fireworks, Brinkman said.
Cosumnes firefighters were called to a third more incidents on July 4, 2025 — 95 in all, but only four were attributed to fireworks, according to district data.
Brinkman said Cosumnes Fire inspectors surveyed “Safe & Sane” fireworks booths, hosted firework amnesty events, allowing those with illegal fireworks to turn them over to fire officials.
Cosumnes personnel also inspected and provided support for commercial fireworks shows including Elk Grove’s annual Red, White & Blue Celebration at Elk Grove Regional Park; as well as Elk Grove Police Department’s fireworks enforcement efforts.
Elk Grove police are several years into their July 4 unmanned patrols for illegal fireworks. Officers and the department’s Drone as First Responder program teamed with city code enforcement officials to spot and cite illegal fireworks.
Illegal fireworks come with a price tag in Elk Grove: a $1,000 fine per firework, said Elk Grove police.
Officials are still tallying figures from this year’s holiday, but last year wrote 41 citations during the July 4, 2025 celebrations, totaling $300,000 in fines, said Elk Grove Police Department.
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