GILROY
– The Gilroy Fire Department has seen enough Fourth of July
excitement.
Geoff Cady, the GFD’s fire analyst, reported that Gilroy
taxpayers spent at least $10,000 during the Fourth of July holiday
to regulate the selling, buying and use of legal
”
safe and sane
”
fireworks.
GILROY – The Gilroy Fire Department has seen enough Fourth of July excitement.
Geoff Cady, the GFD’s fire analyst, reported that Gilroy taxpayers spent at least $10,000 during the Fourth of July holiday to regulate the selling, buying and use of legal “safe and sane” fireworks.
According to Cady, the city received $4,875 in revenue from booth permits, and another $2,500 in grants from various fireworks manufacturers. But the cost of firework safety flyers and posters, city staff time for issuing permits, booth inspections, follow-up reports and patrols cost the city $12,000.
Add the nearly $6,000 the GFD spent on additional enforcement for July 4, and the city paid about $10,000 for legal fireworks this year, Cady said, quoting figures compiled by Gilroy Fire Marshall Jackie Bretschneider.
“I remain firm that having fireworks legal in Gilroy is inconsistent with the Fire Department’s mission of preventing fire and providing safety,” GFD Chief Jeff Clet said. “The results speak for themselves.”
During a tense 10-hour period on the Fourth of July, the GFD responded to nine fires – the number it usually responds to in a month.
That day was so hectic for the GFD that even though 25 firefighters were on duty compared to the usual 10, the department could only respond to a handful of the 42 calls made to 911 regarding illegal fireworks use.
The GFD also blames the firework-fueled blazes for inhibiting its firefighters from writing even one ticket or citation for any of the 3,076 illegal devices confiscated by the department that day.
“Gilroy has become a gathering point for people in the area who want to light fireworks on the Fourth,” Clet said. “They know how much harder it is to enforce laws against illegal fireworks when some are legal. … This provides a very dangerous environment.”
Gilroy is the only city in Santa Clara County which still allows fireworks.
GFD officials said they plan to show City Council a videotape recording from a camera located on a hill above Gilroy on the Fourth of July that shows the massive amount of fireworks over the city that night.
In the tape, viewers can see firefighters working to save one of the homes that caught fire that night while bottle rockets fly over the flaming roof, Cady said.
Following substantial fires at two Gilroy homes on July 4 – one due to a legal firework and the other attributed to a banned firework – City Councilman Bob Dillon asked Council to consider banning all fireworks in the future.
According to GFD data, local firefighters responded to 15 fire calls between 1 and 11 p.m. on July 4 – an “absurdly high” number of calls for the department that normally averages five to six fire calls per day, according to Cady.
Of those 15 calls, two were the structure fires that severely damaged homes; seven were vegetation fires. The final bill for damage caused by the two structure fires was $300,000. The cost for the extra firefighters on duty that day: $4,258, plus an additional $1,700 for operating an extra fire engine.
Such statistics have led the GFD to take a public stance against Gilroy’s long-standing law permitting safe-and-sane fireworks. The legal fireworks do not leave the ground or explode and exclude fireworks such as bottle rockets and M-80s.
“Of course, we would still have additional patrols (on the Fourth) even if all fireworks were banned in the city,” Clet said. “But the difference would be significant.”
Those who argue in favor of keeping Gilroy the only city in the county to allow the sale and use of safe-and-sane fireworks, including Mayor Tom Springer, say banning legal fireworks won’t deter illegal fireworks.
“I understand why some people like the chief (Clet) may think banning all fireworks would help,” he said. “But I say that until we can ban stupidity we won’t be able to solve the problem. … It’s like saying the only way to prevent drinking and driving is to make alcohol illegal.”
Springer also points to the money raised from the fireworks by local nonprofit organizations.
This year 16 groups obtained permits to operate fireworks booths. Organizations such the Gilroy High School cheerleader booster club, Pop Warner football and Gilroy Police Officers Association pocketed profits from firework sales throughout Gilroy.
Many of the organizations say the profits raised from firework sales make up more than half of their annual funds.
Clet doesn’t think the money is worth the safety concerns that come with the fireworks.
“When you look at Gilroy on the Fourth compared to other cities, there’s really no question that we have an inordinate amount of activity here,” he said. “So much that we are forced to focus all of our resources on protection and prevention, not enforcement.”
Under state law, firefighters and police can issue misdemeanor tickets from $500 to $1,000 for possession of illegal fireworks that carry a possible sentence of up to one year in county jail. Depending on the amount of fireworks and weight of explosive material, fireworks possession can become a felony, with violators serving up to a year in state prison, according to GFD Capt. Ed Bozzo.
Bozzo, who organized the GFD’s Fourth of July operations, said most people possessing illegal fireworks in Gilroy get them from other states or the Internet.
