Public safety departments dealt with illegal fireworks throughout holiday -- again

Jul. 6—Illegal fireworks once again created headaches for Kern County's law enforcement agencies over the Fourth of July weekend.

Following a year when celebrations were supposed to be curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kern County residents didn't miss a beat in 2021. On Sunday and Monday, the Bakersfield Fire Department responded to 83 reports of fires, including 15 structure fires. The city and county's emergency communication center received 2,376 calls on Independence Day, a thousand more than the same day a month earlier.

"Every Fourth of July seems like it's extremely busy," said Bakersfield Fire Department Capt. Michael Taylor. "You always have calls pending, and from right about when the sun goes down to the next morning, you're pretty much just going from call to call to call. That's most crews within the city."

He said there were more injuries and overall destruction than in years past, but the department had not finished compiling the data as of Tuesday.

The number of calls to the emergency services center was below the 2,831 logged in 2020, but that could have been because the Kern County Fire Department brought back a fireworks task force that was absent last year. A special hotline allowed residents to directly call in fireworks complaints. The hotline saw 741 reports of illegal fireworks, while 929 reports were made using an online form at kerncountyfire.org.

"Last year we did not have a fireworks task force. This year we did. And so when I look at these numbers I feel like clearly the fireworks task force was a force of good for our community and for fire personnel," KCFD public information officer Andrew Freeborn said. "One reason I would say that is because the number of calls that were diverted away from the communications center would have helped the dispatchers, and we can see that there were more citations issued this year compared to last year and there were more fireworks seized this year."

The county issued 40 citations and seized 5,000 pounds of fireworks, up from 35 citations and 2,000 pounds of illegal fireworks seized last year.

The Bakersfield Area California Highway Patrol arrested 19 people and investigated one fatal crash from Friday through Monday during its "maximum enforcement period."

Bakersfield Police Department Sgt. Robert Pair said the department was "very very busy" during the Fourth of July weekend. The department received more than 1,000 illegal fireworks calls on Sunday. Those calls were transferred to the Fire Department.

"Regular crime and peace disturbances and incidents don't stop because it's the Fourth of July," he said. "I know it's frustrating for a lot of people. We all live here, and we all hear the illegal fireworks, and there's concerns with fires and gunshots and everything that goes along with that celebration, unfortunately."

The Kern County Sheriff's Office conducted an undercover operation seeking out illegal fireworks possession and sales. The operation resulted in the arrest of Felix Romero, 42 and Ernesto Torres, 41, on suspicion of charges related to illegal fireworks. The pair were also administered administrative citations. A total of $4,000 was also confiscated and the operation contributed to the county's total illegal fireworks haul.

With all fireworks use now illegal following the holiday, KCFD directs all residents wishing to report the activity to its website.

"It is something that is used by us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," Freeborn said, noting that was the department's preferred method of reporting so the emergency services number, 911, does not become congested.

You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC.