Sacramento fire agencies faced an extremely busy Fourth of July. Here’s what they responded to

Camila Pedrosa
·4 min read
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Sacramento fire agencies responded to hundreds of grass and structure fires, medical emergencies and other emergency calls on Independence Day, one of the busiest days of the year for first responders.

The Sacramento Regional Fire and EMS Communications Center, which dispatches crews from 10 fire departments across Sacramento County, received 1,465 emergency calls Thursday, a 45% increase from July 4, 2023, according to Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn, a spokesperson for Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.

Including non-emergency calls, the communications center received over 2,500 calls during the holiday — two-and-a-half times more than the daily average of 1,000 calls.

Metro Fire is still analyzing response data from the Fourth of July and will release final numbers on fireworks-related emergencies in the coming days.

Illegal fireworks explode in the sky above a residential area after the July Fourth holiday in Sacramento. Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Justin Sylvia said fines for use of illegal fireworks start at $1,000 and can go up to $5,000.
Illegal fireworks explode in the sky above a residential area after the July Fourth holiday in Sacramento. Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Justin Sylvia said fines for use of illegal fireworks start at $1,000 and can go up to $5,000.

Every Fourth of July, Sacramento Fire Department’s calls for service roughly triple from the daily average, according to Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Capt. Justin Sylvia. In 2023, the Fire Department received over 900 calls, he said.

This year, the window between 8 p.m. and midnight accounted for just over half of all calls to the Fire Department that came between noon Thursday and 6:40 a.m. Friday, according to dispatch data. Calls began pouring in rapidly at around 9 p.m., and in the hour between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., there were nearly 50 calls for service.

A significant portion of Fire Department calls on the Fourth of July are to medical emergencies — 44% of the day’s calls. Over 50 of these calls were between the hours of 3-7 p.m., which could be due to the near-record-breaking heat.



According to the National Weather Service, downtown Sacramento reached 109 degrees Thursday, just one degree off from the Fourth of July record high of 110 degrees, set in 1991.



Calls due to fireworks-related injuries and intoxication are typically received past 11 p.m., Sylvia said.

“The more intoxicated people get, the more kind of riskier things they’re going to start doing,” he said. “You start seeing more traumatic injuries later on (in the night).”

According to Sylvia, the Fire Department sends out seven patrol vehicles the night of the Fourth of July to monitor for illegal firework usage throughout the city. When patrollers catch illegal fireworks being set off, they take photos and videos of the offending firecrackers and note the address associated with them to later send the homeowners a fine.

Fines vary between $1,000 and $5,000, depending on the number and type of illegal fireworks and whether there are multiple citations on the same night.

Two firefighters cut a lock to access a vegetation fire on Thursday night in Sacramento. First responders spent much of the night combating vegetation fires, structure fires and other Independence Day-related emergencies.
Two firefighters cut a lock to access a vegetation fire on Thursday night in Sacramento. First responders spent much of the night combating vegetation fires, structure fires and other Independence Day-related emergencies.

Vegetation fires are a very common occurrence on the Fourth of July — in just a three-minute window between 10:12 and 10:15 p.m. this year, the Fire Department was called to five grass fires. Throughout the night, Sacramento firefighters responded to over 40 vegetation fires.

Grass and tree fires get a severely limited initial response on this night, as crews are stretched extremely thin, according to Sylvia. Only one engine is sent to the scene, where crews can then request additional assistance if needed.

All grass fires that the Fire Department responded to Thursday night were put out within a few hours of their initial call.

Structure fires, while not as common as other calls for service, take up a significant number of crews at a time.

Sacramento firefighters hose down a burnt tree on the 4500 block of Perry Avenue in Sacramento on Thursday night. Flames started in a vehicle fire before spreading to a nearby structure and some surrounding foliage, though the cause remains unknown according to the Sacramento Fire Department.
Sacramento firefighters hose down a burnt tree on the 4500 block of Perry Avenue in Sacramento on Thursday night. Flames started in a vehicle fire before spreading to a nearby structure and some surrounding foliage, though the cause remains unknown according to the Sacramento Fire Department.

At about 9:50 p.m., firefighters were called to a fire at a home on Perry Avenue in Fruitridge Pocket. Crews responded to a blaze at a single-family home, spreading between trees, a vehicle parked in the front yard and the house’s roof. The fire was extinguished within half an hour.

Neighbors reported fireworks in the air near the home prior to the fire sparking, but it was unclear whether fireworks caused the fire, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

Small fires also sparked in residential yards throughout the city, which were quickly put out by fire crews or even the residents themselves, officials said.

A Sacramento firefighter sprays water onto an exterior wall of a house involved in a structure fire on Piedmont Drive in Sacramento after the July Fourth holiday. The Sacramento Fire Department said fireworks were the likely cause of a fire that started between two homes on the street.
A Sacramento firefighter sprays water onto an exterior wall of a house involved in a structure fire on Piedmont Drive in Sacramento after the July Fourth holiday. The Sacramento Fire Department said fireworks were the likely cause of a fire that started between two homes on the street.

Later on, crews responded to a fire burning between two houses in the 600 block of Piedmont Drive in Little Pocket. The Fire Department said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that fireworks were likely the cause of the blaze.

The fire was quickly extinguished, there were no injuries it did not get into either of the homes.

The Fire Department also responded to a structure fire at Natomas Middle School, where a roof was on fire. Sacramento City Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan in a post on social media attributed the blaze to illegal fireworks.

“I know we all love fireworks but illegal fireworks just set fire to a roof to a school in #Natomas. That is not OK,” she wrote on X.